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Temporal trends in test-seeking behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cases identified through mass testing represent only a fraction of infections, depending on the propensity of infected individuals to seek testing. Quantifying the variation in test-seeking behaviour through time or between population subgroups provides important information on testing uptake and supports epidemiological analyses of case data that may otherwise be biased.

Citation:
Eales O, Teo M, Price DJ, Hao T, Ryan GE, Senior KL, Carlson S, Dalton C, Dawson P, Golding N, McCaw JM, Shearer FM. Temporal trends in test-seeking behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mathematics in Medical and Life Sciences. 2025;2(1):2521858

Keywords:
SARS-CoV-2; test-seeking behaviour; COVID-19; Infectious disease surveillance; behavioural epidemiology

Abstract:
Cases identified through mass testing represent only a fraction of infections, depending on the propensity of infected individuals to seek testing. Quantifying the variation in test-seeking behaviour through time or between population subgroups provides important information on testing uptake and supports epidemiological analyses of case data that may otherwise be biased.