en Infectious Diseases Infectious Diseases Review Article Review Article <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong><em>Background:</em></strong></span> Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the current standard of reference in the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In outpatient clinical practice, nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR testing is still the most common procedure. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the sensitivity of RT-PCR nasopharyngeal assays.<br> <span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong><em>Methods:</em></strong></span> We searched three databases, including PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library, using a comprehensive strategy. Studies investigating the sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR nasopharyngeal assays in adults were included. Two reviewers extracted data and assessed trial quality independently. Pooled sensitivity and its confidence interval were computed using the meta package in R.<br> <span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong><em>Results:</em></strong></span> Thirteen studies were found eligible for the inclusion in the systematic review. Out of these, 25 different sub-studies were identified and included in the meta-analysis, which reported the sensitivities of 25 different nasopharyngeal RT-PCR assays. Finally, the overall pooled sensitivity resulted 89% (95% CI, 85.4 to 91.8%).<br> <span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong><em>Conclusion:</em></strong></span> Our study suggests that RT-PCR assays on nasopharyngeal specimens have a substantial sensitivity for diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infection.</span></span> nasopharyngeal swabs, SARS-CoV-2, RT-PCR assay, diagnostic yield. 139 147 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2356-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Marco Marando marco.marando@aol.com 100319475328460035453 100319475328460035453 No Internal Medicine Department, Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Switzerland Adriana Tamburello adriana.tamburello@eoc.ch 100319475328460035454 100319475328460035454 No Internal Medicine Department, Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Switzerland Pietro Gianella pietro.gianella@eoc.ch 100319475328460035455 100319475328460035455 No Internal Medicine Department, Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Switzerland Rebecca Taylor r.taylor@lancaster.ac.uk 100319475328460035456 100319475328460035456 No Senior Associate Statistics, Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, UK Enos Bernasconi enos.bernasconi@eoc.ch 100319475328460035457 100319475328460035457 No Division of Infectious Diseases, Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Switzerland Tanja Fusi-Schmidhauser tanja.fusi-schmidhauser@eoc.ch 100319475328460035458 100319475328460035458 Yes Internal Medicine Department, Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Switzerland