Self-sampling at home using volumetric absorptive microsampling: coupling analytical evaluation to volunteers’ perception in the context of a large scale study

What is it about?

Although dried blood microsampling has received a lot of interest in many application fields, large-scale studies combining the appreciation of self-sampling at home by untrained people with the actual quality of the resulting samples are lacking. In the context of a large-scale (>700 participants), entirely remotely conducted study for the follow-up of the direct alcohol marker phosphatidylethanol, we provide evidence for the feasibility of patient-centric home-sampling by non-experienced volunteers based on i) limited requests for extra sampling material, ii) visual inspection of the sample quality, iii) objective analytical verification of home-sampled duplicates, and iv) a positive assessment via a questionnaire. Combined, this allows us to conclude that self-sampling at home, with the acquisition of good quality samples by untrained individuals, is a feasible feat and a possibly valuable option for routine monitoring of a subset of clinical analytes.

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