[The utilization of dry chemistry methods in a campaign to identify risk factor of cardiovascular diseases]

Dry chemistry methods on a Kodak Ektachem DT 60 instrument have been evaluated during a large scale (60,000 employees of the Italian Telephone Company) screening for the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors. Comparison between dry chemistry methods on serum samples and liquid phase methods on the same samples yielded the following correlation coefficients: .991 (n = 100) for total cholesterol, .962 (n = 50) for high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, .987 (n = 100) for triglycerides, .997 (n = 50) for glucose, and .991 (n = 50) for uric acid. A 12% overestimation of serum triglycerides was observed with dry chemistry methods as compared to liquid phase methods. Accuracy and precision of these dry chemistry methods were evaluated by daily (n = 271 days) determinations of all the above parameters on each of two reference sera (low and high concentration). Dry chemistry methods average bias estimates (observed value - expected value)/expected value) x 100, measuring method's accuracy, were: 4.2% for total cholesterol, 1.2% for HDL cholesterol, 3.6% for triglycerides, 3.0% for glucose, 4.6% for uric acid. Average coefficients of variation (standard deviation/mean x 100, measuring method's precision, were: 5.0% for total cholesterol, 6.3% for HDL cholesterol, 5.9% for triglycerides, 3.6% for glucose, 7.2% for uric acid. Dry chemistry methods by Kodak Ektachem DT 60 proved highly comparable with liquid phase methods. Considering their level of accuracy and precision they can be recommended as quick and simple methods for population screenings.