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Laboratory methods and quality assurance in the Cardiovascular Health Study.

TitleLaboratory methods and quality assurance in the Cardiovascular Health Study.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1995
AuthorsCushman, M, Cornell, ES, Howard, PR, Bovill, EG, Tracy, RP
JournalClin Chem
Volume41
Issue2
Pagination264-70
Date Published1995 Feb
ISSN0009-9147
KeywordsAged, Blood Glucose, Blood Specimen Collection, Cardiovascular Diseases, Chemistry, Clinical, Factor VII, Factor VIII, Fibrinogen, Humans, Insulin, Quality Control, Regression Analysis, Triglycerides
Abstract<p>The Cardiovascular Health Study is an observational cohort study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in 5201 participants, ages > or = 65 years. We report the methods and quality-assurance results for blood procurement, processing, shipping, storage, and sample analysis used during the first examination period (May 1989-June 1990). The most frequent difficulty in phlebotomy and processing was the requirement of more than one venipuncture (in 2.6% of the participants). The CVs for control materials ranged from 0.93% for glucose to 10.7% for insulin; most were < 4%. In addition to standard quality-assurance methods, we applied two other methods: technical error calculation for replicates, and weighted linear regression to assess time trend in results of control materials. After outliers were excluded, technical error values ranged from 1.7 for uric acid to 18.8 for insulin. Factor VII and factor VIII had slight trends over the 12-month analysis period. Results of quality-assurance analyses used to resolve problems were successful, thereby improving the second laboratory examination.</p>
Alternate JournalClin. Chem.
PubMed ID7874780
Grant ListN01-HC-85079 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85080 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85081 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States