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Pregnancy Tests Reviews
Updated February 2006
Identifying the best home pregnancy tests comes down to two criteria: Sensitivity and ease of interpretation. For evaluations in both areas, we turned to comparative reviews by Consumer Reports magazine and a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, both of which compare more than a dozen brands of home pregnancy tests. Consumer Reports' testing isn't as up-to-date as that of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Interestingly, both reviewers evaluate 18 pregnancy tests, and reviews agree on the same winner. We also examined listings of detected hCG levels among home pregnancy tests at FertilityPlus.org, Mommy Guide.com and Baby Hopes.com, none of which perform their own testing. The study by Cole et al in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that two brands had "technical or design problems." One in six Confirm home pregnancy tests and three in six Clear Choice home pregnancy tests gave a false-positive result. Some brands, including Answer Quick & Simple, Sav-on from Osco drugstores, Clear Choice and Confirm (all *est. $9 to $14), also failed to display a control line, which indicates that the test is working correctly. In March 2005, Harmony Brands,
the national distributor of the B-Sure One-Step Home Pregnancy Test, voluntarily
recalled over 627,000 pregnancy tests because they could show false negative
and false positive results. The B-Sure tests were sold at dollar stores and
convenience stores from Feb. 2003 to Mar. 2005. If you have one of these tests
lurking in a medicine cabinet, you shouldn’t use this product.
Since many women want to
know as soon as possible whether they're pregnant, tests with increased sensitivity
have been developed and have flooded the market in recent years. Still, it
doesn't matter how sensitive a test is if you have trouble deciphering the
results. All tests should have a control line to indicate the test is working
properly. Most use a second line, either in a separate window or in a plus-sign
shape, to indicate a positive result, but some, like Clearblue and e.p.t, have a digital display that says either "pregnant" or "not pregnant."
... Continued
Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
First Response is top-rated by three reviewers, including the two best resources, for being the most sensitive test on the market. Fact Plus detects a higher amount of hCG (100 mIU), making it a good option for women prone to a false positive because of recent birth, miscarriage, or certain fertility drugs. Clearblue Easy Earliest Results comes in second in clinical trials to First Response. e.p.t sparks some complaints about difficult interpretation and detects 40 mIU of hCG, which isn't as sensitive as First Response and Clearblue, so we didn't include it in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers. Equate (Wal-Mart's store brand) is recommended in one review, although one of our top sources found some tests failed to work during product testing Advertisement
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© 2008. ConsumerSearch, Inc. A service from 
, a part of The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.
ConsumerSearch and ConsumerSearch.com are registered trademarks of ConsumerSearch, Inc. Other trademarks or service marks on this site are the property of their respective owners. ConsumerSearch is not sponsored by any source reviewed, and we accept no consideration or payment for including, excluding, or ranking any reviews, products or services in our reports.
* Pricing information is approximate as of the time this report was written and is based on observed market selling prices and/or list prices. Actual selling prices may differ.
