The Advantages of Taking a Blood Test at Home
A home blood test provides a quick and easy health checkup through a blood sample collection done at home. The lab report helps screen for any diseases, conditions, infections and vitamin deficiencies.
FollowA blood test is essential to your health checkup since it indicates how well your body functions. Doctors worldwide use this test to screen for diseases, health conditions and infections. These tests can be taken at hospitals, clinics and labs. However, if you or a family member cannot leave the house, you can book a blood test at home. A phlebotomist can visit your house to take a blood sample, which is sent to a lab for analysis. Blood test at home has many benefits, including convenience, quickness and affordability, making it an ideal choice for meeting your health needs.
This blog explores the advantages of getting a blood test at home and provides the relevant information to help you make an informed decision.
What Is a Blood Test At Home?
A doctor orders a blood test to determine how your kidneys, heart, liver and thyroid work. The tests also help diagnose diseases such as cancer, diabetes, coronary heart disease and HIV/AIDS. The most common tests done through blood samples are the complete blood count test, lipid panel, thyroid test, metabolic panel and vitamin test. At-home blood tests are done with the help of a certified phlebotomist who visits your home to take your blood sample and sends it to the lab for analysis.
Why Are They Important?
At-home blood tests provide a convenient way to get your health checkup done without leaving your house. This way of conducting blood tests is essential in the following situations:
- You cannot leave your home due to household responsibilities.
- You have a sick member in the house.
- You need an emergency health checkup done.
- You have an older individual at the house who cannot travel.
- You have a disabled individual at your home who needs a health checkup.
- You have limited access to medical facilities in your area.
With the convenience of these at-home blood tests, everyone can access health checkups right from the comfort of their own home. Just a few clicks, and you can get your overall health checked.
Benefits of Blood Tests at Home
At-home blood tests indicate the same conditions you typically find at a clinical lab. But these tests have a few advantages, which include:
- You get your reports to diagnose or manage a health condition without leaving home.
- You will not have to worry about taking a sick, disabled or older family member to the hospital for a blood test.
- Places with limited medical facilities will have access to health checkups.
- You will have the privacy of having your blood test done at home, which is helpful for individuals who have stigma-related fears associated with some diseases.
- You will get your reports faster, which will aid in early treatment.
- You can book the tests at your convenience to fit your schedule.
How Is It Done?
Blood tests at home are a simple procedure. A certified phlebotomist will visit your home to take a blood sample through your vein. Here’s how the process works:
- The phlebotomist will use antiseptic to clean the injection site.
- A sterile needle will be used to draw the blood.
- The drawn blood will be collected in a tube or vial.
- A bandage will be applied to the injection site.
- The collected sample will be sent to a lab for analysis.
Preparations For The Test
The preparation requires you to fast for 8-12 hours. Hence, you should not eat or drink anything before your test. For this test, you must not drink any fluids except water. You can also ask your healthcare provider for any guidelines before the test. The entire duration of this test will be approximately 5 minutes.Â
In conclusion, blood tests taken at home help bridge the gap in healthcare accessibility for individuals with limited medical facilities or those who are sick, disabled or elderly. By collecting your blood sample at home, you can get your test results from the comfort of your home. This means that people can receive a timely diagnosis and immediate medical treatment. These convenient tests provide actionable diagnosis insights to doctors and their patients.
Disclaimer: This is a featured content  Â
