BACKGROUND: Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics is an innovative approach to healthcare analysis that brings the diagnostic process closer to the patient's immediate care setting. This study was conducted to assess POC testing devices' use in diagnosing cancer and detecting the main challenges facing laboratory specialists.
METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted on conveniently selected laboratory specialists working in the Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Riyadh for six weeks.
RESULT: A total of 187 study participants (51% males and 49% females) were enrolled. Around one-half of them (96, 51%) were less than 30 years old, and 85% had 1-5 years of experience, with 61% (124) having no previous cancer diagnosis devices training. Most of this study's cohort was using ABL 90 Radio meter/blood gases (45, 24%), followed by ABL 800 Radio meter/blood gases (39, 20.9%), as the main cancer diagnostic devices. Several challenges were faced by this study's participants during their work with cancer diagnosis devices. The participants shared that some time was needed to use most of the devices, and learning how to use them was a significantly steep learning curve (2.99 ± 0.07 of participants). Most participants (113, 60.4%) carried out all the control testing, and their results were compared completely (100%) with the central laboratory. They took special precautions to keep the instruments safe (162, 86.6%).
CONCLUSION: The correlation between type of devices used and the challenges faced during the use of POCT cancer diagnosis devices showed that there is a significant correlation between all challenges facing the participants and the type of devices ( = 0.001), except for the need for time to use these devices ( = 0.53). There are many challenges facing workers who operate point-of-care cancer diagnosis devices to a high degree.
