Investigation on the specimens′ turnaround time in clinical laboratories of Shaanxi Province / 临床检验杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the turnaround time (TAT) of clinical laboratory specimens in Shaanxi Province, and provide evidence for improving quality of laboratories. @*Methods@#The 90th percentiles of pre-analytical TAT and intra-laboratory TAT of emergency and inpatient specimens from four majors, such as biochemistry, immunology, blood-urine-faces routines and blood coagulation, were filled in by laboratories on-line, and the returned data were analyzed by Excel 2007 and SPSS 17.0 software. The comparison of the data between two groups was performed with Mann-Whitney U test, and that from multiple groups by Kruskal-Wallis H test. @*Results@#A total of 267 questionnaires were issued, and 91.0% of laboratories finished the fill-in. Among them, 138 laboratories filled in the specimens′ TAT completely. There was no statistical difference in pre-analytical TAT of emergency specimens from four majors (P＞0.05), and the pre-analytical TAT was within 45 minutes in more than 85% of laboratories. There was significant difference in pre-analytical TAT of inpatient specimens from four majors (P＜0.05), and the pre-analytical TAT was within 120 minutes in 80% of laboratories. The specimens′ TAT of blood-urine-faces routines was slightly shorter than that of immunology. No matter emergency or inpatient specimens, the pre-analytical TAT of four majors in the laboratories of the second-level hospitals was less than that in the third-level hospitals (P＜0.05). Whether emergency or inpatient specimens, there were significant differences in the intra-laboratory TAT of four majors (P＜0.05). The intra-laboratory TAT of blood-urine-faces routines was the shortest, followed by that of blood coagulation and biochemistry, and that of immunology was the longest. The intra-laboratory TATs of emergency specimens for biochemistry, immunology, blood-urine-faces routines and blood coagulation were 30-120 minutes, 30-180 minutes, within 60 minutes and 15-120 minutes respectively, in 80% of laboratories. The intra-laboratory TATs of inpatient specimens for blood-urine-faces routines and blood coagulation were within 120 minutes and within 180 minutes respectively, in 80% of laboratories, while those for biochemistry and immunology were equal or greater than 240 minutes and 300 minutes respectively, in 20% of laboratories. No matter emergency or inpatient specimens, there was no significant difference in intra-laboratory TAT between the second-level hospitals and the third-level hospitals (P＞0.05). @*Conclusion@#The TAT of clinical laboratory specimens in Shaanxi Province is quite different. Some laboratories need to optimize the specimens′ turnaround process and shorten the TAT of specimens.