Annual Report on the External Quality Assessment Scheme for General Chemistry in Korea (2017)

ABSTRACT

In 2017, the clinical chemistry proficiency testing program consisted of 24 programs with the addition of the urine chemistry program in the Korean Association of External Quality Assessment Service. The routine chemistry program consisted of 32 test items, including osmolality, total CO2, and estimated glomerular filtration rate tests, and the urine chemistry program consisted of 12 test items, including the albumin test. Based on the information and results of each test item entered by each institution, statistical analysis data according to test method, instrument, and reagent were reported. The statistics included the number of participating institutions, mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, median, minimum, and maximum values for each group. Each report was composed of a table, histogram, Levy-Jennings chart, and standard deviation index showing statistics by each test item. A total of 14 items, including albumin, were evaluated by more than 1,000 institutions, and the number of participating institutions is continuously increasing. The coefficient of variation tended to increase, as the concentration of the control material was lower for each test item. Most of them showed a coefficient of variation within 10%. Alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase were found to have high coefficients of variation due to differences in measurement values between measurement methods. The distribution of measurement methods in general chemistry test items was not significantly different from that of previous years, and the distribution of measurement methods for albumin, glucose, phosphorus, and protein among the urine chemistry program was different from that of the routine chemistry program.