NEWS:HOME PREGNANCY KITS ARE UNRELIABLE

Not all home pregnancy test kits are as reliable as the manufacturers claim, researchers have discovered. Three makes of kit with a supposed accuracy rate of 97 per cent were only 77 per cent accurate when they tested by 109 women whose periods were

A similar finding has been made by a team of French researchers who tested 11 kits. They found that the kits varied widely in their accuracy, with some having a diagnostic sensititivity of less than 10 per cent.

Around one third of women who think they are pregnant have used one of the kits (JAMA, 1997; 278: 586-91).