Diagnostic Performance Analysis of the Point-of-Care Bilistick System in Identifying Severe Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia by a Multi-Country Approach

Importance: The real prevalence and clinical burden of severe neonatal jaundice are undefined due to difficulties in measuring total serum bilirubin (TSB) outside secondary and tertiary clinical centers. Objective: To assess the diagnostic performance of the point-of care Bilistick System (BS) in identifying neonatal jaundice patients requiring treatment. Design: Between April 2015 and November 2016, 1911 neonates, were recruited to participate in the study. Blood samples were simultaneously collected for the TSB determination by BS and by hospital laboratory (Lab). Data were collected and sent to the Bilimetrix headquarter in Trieste where statistical analysis was performed. Newborns with neonatal jaundice were treated with phototherapy according to each center's guidelines. Setting: 17 hospitals from Nigeria, Egypt, Indonesia, and Viet Nam. Participants: 1911 newborns were included, of which 1458 (76·3%) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Results: TSB level measured by BS agreed (p < .0001) with the lab result in all four countries. The diagnostic performance of BS showed a positive predictive value (PPV) of 92·5% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 92·8%. Conclusions and Relevance: BS is a reliable system to detect neonatal jaundice over a wide range of bilirubin levels. Since Bilistick is a point-of-care test, its use may provide appropriate and timely identification of jaundiced newborns requiring treatment.