title: Pre-metrological (pre-analytical) variation of some biochemical quantities.
abstract: It is customary to assume that pre-metrological variation is negligible if all pre-metrological sources of variation have been standardised. The aim of this study was to quantify the pre-metrological variation of some biochemical quantities frequently measured in clinical laboratories. The experimental design considers the different sources of pre-metrological variation that usually act day-to-day on samples from patients. The results demonstrate that, for many quantities, the pre-metrological variance is not negligible; consequently, it is suggested that these variances should be taken into account when estimating the uncertainty of measurement of patients' results.
authors.affiliation: Servei de Bioquímica Clínica, Ciutat Sanitària i Universitària de Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalonia, Spain. xfa@csub.scs.es
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fuentes-Arderiu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Acebes-Frieyro
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gavaso-Navarro
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Castiñeiras-Lacambra
mesh_terms: D019963:Clinical Chemistry Tests; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results