Home Pregnancy Tests - How Accurate Are They?

In your mother or grandmother's days, she had to wait days, perhaps weeks to get the results of her pregnancy test. And, that's only after a visit to her doctor. Today, thanks to home pregnancy tests, you can have the answer in minutes.

Home pregnancy tests work pretty much the same way as pregnancy tests carried out by professional labs. Both the home and lab pregnancy tests determine the presence and level of a hormone called hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) in blood or urine. Blood samples are considered more reliable. Home pregnancy kits test urine.

So, how accurate are home pregnancy tests? Here, we have to look at two things: readability and sensitivity.

Readability:

Readability is how easy it is for you to interpret the test results. Some tests are definitely easier to interpret than others. Some match a color strip against a stated result, while some show you a number. And, there are those which just say 'Pregnant' or 'Not Pregnant' in some form.

Basically, any current over-the-counter product from a major manufacturer is reliable. You might be surprised to find out that false negatives and false positives, while not completely absent, affect fewer than 5% of cases.

Sensitivity:

You need to know that as tests have become more and more sensitive, the level of false positives has a tendency to go up. For example, women who have recently given birth or miscarried may have elevated levels of hCG present even when they are not pregnant. And, certain medications can increase the level of false positives as well.

What does this mean for you? It means that tests which measure low levels (such as 25 mIu/ml) can give a misleading result. You need to look at the sensitivity rating of the test and compare. In order to reduce false positives, tests can be designed not to give a 'Pregnant' indication until higher levels are reached. There are some tests which measure levels at 50 mIU/ml or even at or above 100 mIU/ml.

The Problem with Raising Sensitivity:

If you wish to raise the sensitivity of your home pregnancy test, you may run into a potential problem:

One, if the test detects hCG only at higher levels, you have to be pregnant longer before the body builds up to that level. That reduces the value of your home test, especially if it's an EPT (EARLY Pregnancy Test). The other potential problem is closely related. It can introduce false negatives, you really are pregnant, but the test tells you that you're not.

It is for the above reasons that you should follow up your home pregnancy test with another one a week later. If you get the same result, the odds of the test being accurate is higher. You should also follow up with a test from your physician for the most accurate results.

Keep in mind that no HPT (Home Pregnancy Test) measures pregnancy directly. The only way to do that is to actually examine the implantation of the fertilized egg in your womb. Such a test can't be performed at home.

As for when to take a home pregnancy test, the best time would be halfway through your menstrual cycle. You should wait at least a week after your last period to ensure the most accurate test result.

Synonyms:  Pregnant, pregnancy and expecing a baby are used synonymously.

Regnancy, rpegnancy, ppregnancy, pegnancy, pergnancy, prregnancy, prgnancy, prgenancy, preegnancy, prenancy, prengancy, preggnancy, pregancy, preganncy, pregnnancy, pregnncy, pregnnacy, pregnaancy, pregnacy, pregnacny, pregnanncy, pregnany, pregnanyc, pregnanccy, pregnanc, and pregnancyy are typos and mispells for the word "pregnancy."  Est, etst, ttest, tst, tset, teest, tet, tets, tesst, tes, and testt are typos and mispells for the word "test."