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External quality assessment of quantitative urinary analysis
Annals of Clinical Biochemistry
|November 1, 1984
Summary
A quality assessment scheme evaluated 13 labs on 11 urinary analyses. Urinary protein assays showed the most variability between labs, highlighting a need for improved standardization in clinical chemistry assessments.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Chemistry
- Laboratory Medicine
- Analytical Toxicology
Background:
- External quality assessment (EQA) is crucial for maintaining laboratory performance standards.
- Standardized urinary analysis is essential for accurate patient diagnosis and monitoring.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the performance of 13 clinical chemistry laboratories in urinary analysis.
- To identify analytical variability in specific urinary analytes and creatinine clearance estimation.
Main Methods:
- An external quality-assessment scheme was implemented.
- Participating laboratories analyzed 11 common urinary analytes: calcium, chloride, creatinine, glucose, osmolality, phosphate, potassium, protein, sodium, urate, and urea.
- Creatinine clearance was also estimated.
Main Results:
- Inter-laboratory imprecision was greatest for urinary protein assays.
- Variability was observed across other tested urinary analytes and creatinine clearance estimations.
- The study provided comparative data against similar international quality assessment schemes.
Conclusions:
- Urinary protein assays represent a significant challenge for inter-laboratory consistency.
- The findings underscore the need for enhanced standardization and quality control in clinical chemistry laboratory practices for urinary analysis.
- Comparative analysis with other schemes provides valuable insights into global laboratory performance.