POINT OF CARE DIAGNOSTICS MARKET ANALYSIS

Point Of Care Diagnostics Market Size and Trends

Global point of care diagnostics market is estimated to be valued at USD 4.52 Billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 6.91 Billion by 2031, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% from 2024 to 2031.

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Growing geriatric population

Global geriatric population has been growing at an unprecedented rate due to increasing life expectancy and decline in birth rates. People aged 65 years and above represented about 9% of the total population in 2020 and this percentage is projected to increase to 16% of the world's population by 2050. Growing geriatric population can drive the point of care diagnostics market growth.

Older adults tend to have weaker immunity, and are more susceptible to chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, and others. These people often need to get their health monitored on a regular basis. Point of care testing helps in fast diagnosis of health conditions in the comfort of homes for elderly patients without subjecting them to long waiting periods in diagnostic centers. This ensures timely treatment decisions. Moreover, many older patients have limited mobility. These find it difficult to travel long distances to hospitals or diagnostic labs for tests. Near patient testing empowers them to get tested in the comfort of their homes with just a small sample rather than undergoing invasive venous draws. It provides convenience and minimizes health risks associated with transportation.

Growing social and economic factors can also contribute to ageing of global population. Improved healthcare facilities and medical technologies have enhanced life expectancy. Changing family structures with busy lifestyles makes people dependent on themselves rather than children for support in old age. This has increased the need for convenient self-testing and remote patient monitoring solutions through digital health technologies. These tools can help manage seniors' health more effectively by reducing hospital visits and ensuring early detection of disorders common in geriatric patients. Rising burden of aging-related diseases and challenges associated with geriatric healthcare makes point of care testing an indispensable diagnostic method to address this demographic shift.

Increasing prevalence of infectious diseases

Rising occurrences of infectious diseases can drive the point of care diagnostics market growth. Presence of various causal organisms and emergence of new pathogens threatens public health worldwide. Lack of clean water supplies and sanitation in developing countries along with increasing worldwide travel and trade can lead to spread of infectious maladies.

Prompt diagnosis is critical to curb the outbreak of contagious illnesses and prevent their transmission in the community. Traditional laboratory-based methods require transport of samples to centralized facilities and can take more than a day to yield results. This delays initiation of treatment and allows undetected spread during the gap period. Near-patient testing empowers healthcare professionals with faster diagnostic capabilities at the earliest stages of infection. It enables quick deployment of countermeasures like quarantine, contact tracing and administering necessary drugs/therapy depending on the in vitro analysis. This can curb potential epidemics at an initial stage itself before these can evolve into broader public health emergencies.

Rapid migration and cheaper international travel have led to higher chances of people getting exposed to exotic diseases in different parts of the world. Point of care assays can diagnose such infectious tropical disorders without having to send specimens to reference labs, sparing time for prompt care. These have become extremely useful diagnostic adjuncts in community health centers, physician offices, emergency departments and ambulatory surgical settings where infectious diseases are commonly encountered. Point of care testing provides a fast, convenient and reliable method to detect contagions promptly, and thus, is increasingly relied upon for combating growing onslaught of infectious pathogens.