Most over-the-counter pregnancy tests don't live up to their claims of being 99 percent accurate within the first day of a woman missing her period, a UNM researcher says.
Only one of the leading pregnancy tests on the market was capable of detecting 95 percent of pregnancies within that time frame, said Laurence Cole, chief of women's health research at UNM. The rest of the tests came up short, and were only able to accurately determine if a woman was pregnant 16 percent of the time, he said.
"And the situation is actually much worse than that," Cole said, adding that most of the tests' laboratory performances are based on outdated Food and Drug Administration standards.
The problem, he said, is that most tests are set to detect a specific hormone present in pregnant women's urine, hCG, but that hormone doesn't appear in significant amounts until about the fourth week of pregnancy.
Cole said there has been extensive research on a variant of the hormone that found searching for it to be a far better early indicator of pregnancy.
"However, the manufacturers of pregnancy tests have chosen to ignore the findings of that research and as a result, their products are very unreliable," he said.
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Cole's research found only two home pregnancy tests - First Response and Clear Blue Easy - that even come close to living up to the assertions on their boxes.
First Response tests, he said, are able to detect pregnancy 95 percent of the time the first day a woman misses her period. Clear Blue Easy is able to do so on an average of 80 percent of the time, he said.
Cole's studies have also concluded that most of the tests are made to detect a level of the hormones lower than what is required by the FDA.
A spokeswoman from the FDA, who asked that her name not be used, said the administration is aware of Cole's research and is working on a similar study to tell if they need to improve their standards for pregnancy tests.
She said, though, all tests come with a disclaimer telling women to get retested if their pregnancy tests prove negative, but they still do not have their period.
Cole said that is not enough because the ramifications of a woman taking the results of a test seriously and engaging in dangerous behaviors are severe.
"I hear stories all too often about women assuming they are not pregnant because of the results of a faulty test and endangering the lives of their children by drinking," he said, adding that pre-term labor, mental retardation and deformity are just some of the results of women not taking care of themselves while pregnant.
Cole said the best advice he can give to women eager to know if they are pregnant is to use one of the two products he has found to be reliable.
"Otherwise, wait until a week after you've missed your period," he said. "After that, all the tests are about the same as far as effectiveness."
He said the danger of relying on the faulty tests is so high that he is willing to help. Any female UNM community member who has taken a home pregnancy test but wants assurance about its legitimacy is welcome to visit his office, and he will conduct a test in the University's certified clinical laboratory free of charge.
Professor Cole can be reached at 272-6137.
