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February 5, 2026Malaria JournalOpen Access

Positive tests are all alike, every negative test is negative in its own way: lack of confidence in negative malaria rapid diagnostic tests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Authors

KSKathryn N. SuggFMFlorence MpataMHMichael D. Humes

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Overview

Qualitative study explores reasons for provider distrust in negative malaria RDT results, highlighting implications for treatment adherence.

Key Points

  • The study aims to understand why healthcare providers in the DRC lack confidence in negative malaria rapid diagnostic test results.
  • Conducted 64 semi-structured interviews with healthcare staff at 16 health facilities.
  • Performed 12 key informant interviews with health officials.
  • Held 24 focus groups with community members.
  • Analyzed perceptions around malaria diagnoses and RDT accuracy.
  • Providers overreported malaria cases compared to automated test results.
  • Negative RDT results faced more skepticism than positive ones.
  • Misconceptions about RDTs contributing to underreporting of malaria cases were identified.
  • Financial incentives favored microscopy over RDTs.

Cite This Study

Sugg et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69843422f1d9ada3c1fb1e31https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-026-05802-6
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