22 At-Home Kits That You Can Use for Your Family for Quick Results

Now, a lot of people aren’t actually aware of all the different types of kits out there.

So, to ensure that you are making the most of this opportunity, here is a list of all the kits that will be most useful to you and your family.

At-Home Kits to Monitor Health

If you want to be able to manage your medical conditions from home, here are all of the kits that you can use:

1.      Blood Sugar Test Kit

Since the results of these kits are incredibly important, the meters do have to maintain a certain level of accuracy. In most cases, the accuracy of the meter will be compared with laboratory results.

You will need to choose a meter that produces results that are between 15 and 20 percent of what the lab reports.

A little bit of online research should be enough to help you figure out whether or not the kit you want to choose is accurate.

If you want to be really certain, however, it is a good idea for a lab to test your blood and compare it with the results produced by your blood sugar kit.

2.      UTI Kit

Now, typically, the pain alone is enough to let you know if you have a UTI. However, if you want to be quite sure, then the UTI testing kits can help you out.

The design behind these is pretty basic – you simply immerse the strips in urine and then wait for the strips to change color. The precise color and the corresponding results will depend on the brand that you are using.

The UTI test strips work by checking for the presence of nitrites, leukocytes, or both. If these substances are found, it usually indicates an infection.

If you want a kit that is as accurate as possible, you should look for one that tests for both nitrites and leukocytes. According to research, these are the ones that tend to be most precise.

3.      Candida Testing Kits

Candida can cause a number of different problems in your body including thrush and infections. However, as far as home testing kits go, they are usually designed to detect bacterial vaginosis.

The at-home tests work by detecting the pH value of vaginal discharge. See, in a healthy woman, the pH value would be between 3.8 and 4.5 – slightly acidic.

However, bacterial vaginosis can elevate this number, making the environment more alkaline. So, what the test does is determine the pH level of the discharge.

If the discharge registers as even slightly alkaline, there is a good chance that you may have an infection.

The good news is that these tests do tend to be quite precise and can often be as accurate as what you would expect from a doctor’s office!

4.      Liver Function Testing Kits

Liver disease is on the rise in a number of countries around the world. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t realize that something is wrong until it is too late.

If you want to monitor your liver function, there is a relatively easy way to do this. These home tests contain strips that check for bilirubin and urobilinogen levels in your urine.

The strips change color if these substances are detected.

An elevated amount could indicate that your liver isn’t functioning as it is supposed to.

There haven’t been any specific scientific studies based on these tests so it can be difficult to determine just how accurate they really are.

5.      Kidney Function Testing Kits

Most of the common methods of testing kidney function are through urinalysis. This kind of test looks at whether there is protein or blood present in urine.

There are plenty of at-home tests that can do this for you. The strips are saturated in urine and they then change color, corresponding to a particular indication on a chart.

Depending on the shades shown, you will be able to detect what proteins are in your urine and the levels present as well.

Once again, there isn’t any scientific data to back up just how precise the results can be when compared to lab results.

At-Home Kits to Detect Presence of Controlled Substances

If you have teenage children then there is always a certain amount of worry that they are dabbling in either drugs or alcohol. You may have similar concerns if you are living with someone who has previously struggled with addiction issues.

If this is the case, the following kits can be quite useful:

6.      Cocaine Testing Kits

These kits detect the presence of cocaine in your urine. Now, the precise accuracy of the kit depends on the cut-off point for each product.

See, some products are able to detect as little as 100ng/mL while others can only identify concentrations of 300ng/mL or greater.

In this instance, the kit that is able to detect lower levels will have greater sensitivity, and thus will provide more accurate results.

7.      Marijuana Testing Kit

These tests as well rely on the levels of THC found in the urine. This often means that in addition to a negative and a positive result, some tests can reveal the potency of the THC levels as well.

See, these strips are saturated in urine and after a short while, they show a certain number of lines, depending on whether THC was found or not.

When it comes to a positive result, the darkness of the lines could indicate whether there are trace or potent amounts of THC in the urine.

As with most drug tests, the marijuana test kits are supposed to be about 99 percent accurate.

8.      Meth Testing Kit

When testing for methamphetamines, you will often find that there are saliva tests in addition to the typical urine tests.

Now, the type of test that you decide to rely on depends on how long after use you are testing a person.

For instance, if you suspect that someone has used the drug only a few hours prior, a saliva test may be more accurate.

However, if it has been a few days, then a urine sample may be a better option for you.

If you decide to go with a urine test, you should make it a point to check the levels of meth that the kit is capable of testing for.

Remember:

When the test can detect lower levels, it has a greater sensitivity to the drug.

9.      Benzodiazepine Testing Kit

While benzodiazepine isn’t actually a controlled substance, it can be an addictive substance. Now, the urine tests available on the market are generally able to test for most medications containing benzodiazepines.

In this sense, the accuracy levels of these tests tend to be rather high. However, this doesn’t make them completely accurate.

For one thing, many of these tests don’t tell you just how much of the drug was found in the person’s system.

Considering that there are a number of medications that do contain this substance, you will need to take the results with a grain of salt.

10.  Alcohol

The only thing to keep in mind when using these strips is that certain drinks and food can alter the test so it is best to use it on someone who hasn’t eaten or drunk in at least 15 minutes.

At-Home Kits for Household Safety

For the most part, you would like to believe that your house is safe and germ-free. However, though you may not realize it, there may be a lot more dangers lurking around. This is why the following kits can come in handy:

11.  Water Testing Kit

There is always a chance that the water in your home may have some additional contaminants. Now, the first thing that you have to understand about these kits is that there are different types.

The first is those that test all kinds of contaminants in the water. This includes anything bacterial, copper, pH, nitrates, and more.

Then, there are the kits that are only designed to detect minerals and salts. They are unable to detect anything biological.

Now, of course, you should decide on the one that you feel is most relevant to your current situation. However, it is typically a good idea to scan for all contaminants rather than just a few.

A piece of good news about these kits is that many of them have been tested out. while they aren’t perfect, they do boast a high level of accuracy.

12.  Asbestos Testing Kits

Asbestos testing kits tend to be a bit different from other kinds. For one thing, you don’t get immediate results.

Instead, you have to take a sample of your wall or ceiling and send it into a lab. Now, one of the perks of this is that you do get back more accurate results. Of course, this does depend on the lab that you are sending it to.

You may come across some kits that promise to provide you with instant results but you really shouldn’t buy those. They often tend to be rather inaccurate and that is not a risk that you should be willing to take.

13.  Formaldehyde

The formaldehyde testing kits test the surrounding air in your home environment. This means that for the most accurate results, you will need to test each room separately.

You will need to leave a vial filled with some liquid in the room that you want to test. After about thirty minutes to an hour, you will be able to see a change in color, if formaldehyde gas has been detected.

There is no denying that these at-home formaldehyde tests can be quite useful. However, there may be some factors that could disrupt the readings.

If a particular room hasn’t been sealed off or if the temperature in that area is too high or too low, this test could result in false readings.

So, you will need to carefully control the surroundings if the test is to really work.

14.  Radon Testing Kit

This is yet another at-home testing kit where you have to send the sample to the lab. So, these kits essentially consist of a device that is able to absorb particles from the room that it is kept in.

Then, the components are analyzed in a lab. As you can imagine, this does improve the precision of these tests quite a bit.

However, there is something to keep in mind – these tests are based on short-term results. This means at most you can expect accuracy of about 25 percent or so.

If you want to be really sure about radon contamination in your home, it is best to rely on long-term devices.

15.  Mold Testing Kit

Here too, there are two types of kits – instant results and the ones where you need to send samples to the lab.

As with most of these tests, if you value precision, then the lab tests are the way to go.

However, the main issue with mold test kits is that many experts believe that you actually don’t need them.

If you can see the mold, then your efforts are better spent trying to get rid of it.

That being said, if you are interested in identifying the type of mold for one reason or another, then yes, these kits will come in handy.

16.  Lead Testing Kit

It can get a little tricky when you are trying to find a lead testing kit.

Here’s why:

See, the EPA has rather strict rules about what constitutes the most accurate lead testing kit. According to these guidelines, the kits must be able to detect within the minimum and maximum ranges of lead composition in the environment.

However, to date, none of the kits actually meet these standards.

Despite this, there is a catch. This is because the EPA themselves say that there are certain maximum level detection kits that are still rather reliable.

So, if you want to be certain that you are making the right choice, find a kit that has a stamp of approval from the EPA.

At-Home Kits for Pregnancy

17.  Pregnancy Testing Kit

This kind of test relies on the HCG levels in the urine that is present in pregnant women.

However, just how accurate are they? While most pregnancy tests claim to be around 99 percent correct, there are some mitigating factors.

For one thing, these tests often increase in accuracy when you are a week or two pregnant, as this is when the HCG levels are higher.

So, if you take the test too close to your missed period, you may get a negative result.

18.  Ovulation Testing Kit

If you want to know when you are ovulating, an ovulation kit can help you to outline a schedule. These kits are able to do this by detecting what is known as the luteinizing hormone (LH)

Just before and during your ovulation period, your body will begin to produce an elevated amount of LH. This, in turn, will be present in your urine.

So, these kits test the presence of LH in your urine to determine if there is an increase.

Most of these tests can be up to 99 percent accurate. That, though, is only if they are used properly.

For these kits to produce proper results, you have to first have a rough idea of when your ovulation period may begin so that you can start testing.

19.  Fertility Testing Kit

Now, sexual intercourse during the fertile period can also result in pregnancy. So, if you want to increase your chances of conceiving, then these tests can help.

Here, the kits test for the presence of estrogen and sometimes luteinizing hormone (LH) as well in the urine. This is because estrogen acts as a precursor to the LH, which induces ovulation.

The unfortunate thing about these, however, is that they may not be as accurate as you would hope. Especially, for older women, they may not be able to predict the level of fertility.

At-Home Kits for Blood and DNA

These are the at-home kits that can help you determine various aspects of your blood and DNA composition:

20.  Blood Type Testing Kits

Knowing your blood type is incredibly important for a number of reasons. This is why these at-home kits can cut the cost and time typically associated with these types of tests.

Well, the good news is that these kits are largely accurate – research has shown that they can be up to 80 percent reliable when compared with lab tests.

Of course, it’s typically best to stick with kits that have received FDA approval so that you can be certain of the results.

21.  DNA Testing Kits

Most people use DNA testing kits for one of two reasons – either to check their ancestry or to learn about health risks.

For the most part, these tests are easy enough to use. They typically require a certain amount of saliva and then they are sent off to various labs.

In a few weeks' or months’ time, you will get your results.

While these tests are incredibly popular, experts do advise caution. It isn’t that these tests are inaccurate; it is rather that their degree of accuracy is off.

So, this means that you may be told that you have a higher risk for a certain disease even though it is not the case.

When it comes to ancestry, these tests can under or overestimate the percentage of genealogical traits, particularly in relation to region.

22.  Paternity Testing Kits

If you are looking for discretion, then paternity tests are the way to go. They are quite similar to DNA tests as they are looking for similar markers between the child and father.

It should be noted that tests vary in their levels of accuracy but there are a few ways to determine a test’s reliability.

First, make sure that the kit has been certified by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments.

If the test requires blood instead of saliva then look for a recommendation by the American Association of Blood Banks.

Also, make sure that the kit in question looks at twenty-one markers instead of just seventeen.

So, these are all of the at-home kits that can help you out in a number of different situations.

Now, you should know that these tests aren’t suitable substitutions for medical or other professionals.

For truly accurate results, it is best to stick with trained experts using reliable lab equipment.

However, in a pinch, all of these kits will do!