Evaluation of positive and false‐positive results in syphilis screening of blood donors in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

ABSTRACT Objectives We propose to analyse the positive and false‐positive results of treponemal and nontreponemal tests in blood donors from Brazil and to evaluate possible factors associated with the results of treponemal tests. Background Treponemal tests have been used widely for syphilis screening in blood banks. The introduction of these tests in donor screening has caused an impact and a loss of donors who need to be assessed. Methods This was a retrospective cross‐sectional study of syphilis screening and confirmatory test results of blood donors that were obtained before and after adopting a chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA). A comparative analysis was performed using a second sample drawn from positive donors. The possible factors associated with CLIA‐positive or CLIA‐false‐positive results were investigated in a subgroup. Statistical tests were used to compare the proportions and adjusted estimates of association. Results The reactivity rate increased from 1·01% (N = 28 158) to 2·66% (N = 25 577) after introducing the new test. Among Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL)‐ and CLIA‐confirmed results, the false‐positive rates were 40·5% (N = 180) and 37·4% (N = 359), respectively (P = 0·5266). Older donors (OR = 1·04; P = 0·0010) and donors with lower education levels (OR = 6·59; P = 0·0029) were associated with a higher risk of positivity for syphilis. Conclusions CLIA represents an improvement in blood bank serological screening. However, its use in a healthy population appears to result in high rates of false positives. Identifying which characteristics can predict false positives, however, remains a challenge.