• STD Testing
  • Testing Costs
  • Reviews
  • About STDs
    • Who should test?
    • When to test
    • At-Home Tests
    • At-home STD tests
    • Direct-to-lab
    • Doctor's office
    • Free clinics
    • Private iDNA
    • LetsGetChecked
    • myLAB Box
    • EverlyWell
    • STD Check
    • Personalabs
    • STD trends
    • Bacterial Vaginosis
    • Chlamydia
    • Human Papillomavirus
    • Gonorrhea
    • Herpes
    • Hepatitis
    • HIV/AIDS
    • Syphilis
    • Trichomoniasis

At-Home STD Tests

At-Home STD testing is a relatively new option available in the market. Should you consider at-home testing? Are at-home tests reliable?

At-Home STD Tests

Below is STD Test Compare’s assessment of at-home testing.

You think you might have a sexually transmitted disease (STD). What do you do? Go to a clinic/lab, or order an at-home STD test?
One of the most frequent barriers that prevents people from going to a clinic involves the confidentiality of the clinical setting. Concerns about judgment from providers or other people at the clinic - not to mention fear resulting from the actions of big insurance companies - keep many from proactively getting tested for STDs. No one wants to see an insurance form mailed to the house with “Chlamydia Screen” on it. If the idea of going to a clinic concerns you, an at-home test kit might be a good option.
It’s important to understand some basic differences in the at-home STD tests available today:
  1. Rapid Point-of-Care VS Laboratory Tests

    First, it is important to know any at-home test kit that does not use a laboratory to process results is not as accurate as a kit that is processed in a lab. For example, OraQuick - a popular at home HIV test - does not perform as well as test kits backed by a lab. (Source) OraQuick uses a saliva sample rather than more the reliable finger-stick blood samples that laboratory-backed at-home test kits use. Understand that you are trading accuracy for speed to get an immediate result. The risk is that you are more apt to get a false-negative result and believe that you are not infected when you really are.

  2. Individual Tests VS Full Panel Test Kits

    We at STD Test Compare encourage anyone doing STD self-testing to opt for a full panel test kit, for this reason: Many people carry STDs without showing symptoms so it’s not possible to know what you may have been exposed to. Even if symptoms are present, symptoms can overlap between diseases. Not to mention, having one STD puts you at greater risk of contracting additional diseases. Testing yourself for a single disease won’t help, and may only delay, the discovery of anything else you may have.

    Don’t self-diagnose. You can screen yourself just as easily for several diseases as a single disease so why waste time and risk it by guessing what you might have? Choose a full-panel test kit instead.

    Individual at-home STD tests do have their place, however. The best use of individual tests is in the case of an individual who has already tested positive for an STD. Re-testing for that particular STD following the completion of a doctor’s recommended treatment is a good option to screen for the continued presence of that infection.

  3. Laboratory-backed At-Home Test Kits

    STD Test Compare has compiled reviews and comparisons for the four accredited At-Home STD kits which utilize Lab-verified results— Private iDNA, LetsGetChecked, myLab Box, and EverlyWell.

About Us

Privacy Policy

Providers