Participant-reported use of human-encountered tick testing results in healthcare settings: A cross-sectional survey

Abstract

The rising incidence and expanding geographic distribution of tick-borne diseases in the United States have led to innovative approaches to surveillance and risk assessment.

Human-encountered tick-testing programs provide submitters with tick identification and pathogen-screening results, although clinical guidelines advise against using tick pathogen results to direct patient management. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 11,936 individuals who submitted ticks to the SUNY Upstate Tick Testing Program during 2019–2021. Of 2,576 respondents (22.6%), 2,560 answered the healthcare-use question; 824 (32.2%) reported using the result when seeking medical help. Among these respondents, 398 reported that a healthcare provider performed diagnostic testing, and 476 perceived that medication was prescribed based on the tick-testing result. Because the survey relied on participant self-report and did not capture symptoms, timing, medication type, clinical indication, or provider rationale, it cannot determine whether tick-testing results caused or improved clinical decisions. The findings nevertheless indicate that respondents bring these results into healthcare interactions. Communication accompanying tick-testing reports should emphasize that detection in a submitted tick does not establish human infection and that such results should not replace established clinical assessment or diagnostic testing.