Bhattacharya: a new application for quality control.

Area of Science:

• Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
• Quality Control in Healthcare

Background:

• Internal quality control (IQC) is crucial for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of laboratory test results.
• Traditional methods like 'average of normals' are widely used but may have limitations in detecting subtle analytical changes.
• The Bhattacharya method, typically used for reference interval calculation, presents a potential alternative for IQC.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the sensitivity and flexibility of the Bhattacharya method versus the 'average of normals' method for internal quality control.
• To evaluate the suitability of the Bhattacharya method for quality control procedures in clinical laboratories.

Main Methods:

• Utilized unselected patient test results for both methods.
• Applied the Bhattacharya method, adapted from reference interval calculations, for IQC.
• Simulated systematic errors using data from a coagulation test to assess method performance.

Main Results:

• The Bhattacharya method demonstrated higher sensitivity in detecting expected analytical shifts compared to the 'average of normals' method.
• The Bhattacharya method proved to be more flexible in its application for quality control procedures.
• Both methods are based on unselected patient test results, a common practice in clinical chemistry.

Conclusions:

• The Bhattacharya method is a more sensitive and flexible tool for internal quality control in clinical chemistry.
• Adaptation of the Bhattacharya method for IQC can enhance the detection of systematic errors in laboratory testing.
• Further investigation into the Bhattacharya method's application in diverse laboratory settings is warranted.