title: Laboratory medicine best practice guideline: vitamins a, e and the carotenoids in blood.
abstract: Despite apparent method similarities between laboratories there appear to be confounding factors inhibiting uniform reporting and standardisation of vitamin assays. The Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists (AACB) Vitamins Working Party, in conjunction with The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs, has formulated a guideline to improve performance, reproducibility and accuracy of fat-soluble vitamin results. The aim of the guideline is to identify critical pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical components of the analysis of vitamins A, E and carotenoids in blood to promote best practice and harmonisation. This best practice guideline has been developed with reference to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) "Laboratory Medicine Best Practices: Developing an Evidence-Based Review and Evaluation Process". The CDC document cites an evaluation framework for generating best practice recommendations that are specific to laboratory medicine. These 50 recommendations proposed herein, were generated from a comprehensive literature search and the extensive combined experience of the AACB Vitamins Working Party members. They were formulated based on comparison between an impact assessment rating and strength of evidence and were classified as either: (1) strongly recommend, (2) recommend, (3) no recommendation for or against, or (4) recommend against. These best practice recommendations represent the consensus views, in association with peer reviewed evidence of the AACB Vitamins Working Party, towards best practice for the collection, analysis and interpretation of vitamins A, E and carotenoids in blood.
authors.affiliation: Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Vitamins Working Party; ; School of Medical Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia; ; Centre for Hormone Research, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Vic., Australia;
authors.forename: Ronda F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Greaves
authors.affiliation: Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Vitamins Working Party; ; Department of Specialist Chemical Pathology, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand;
authors.forename: Gerald A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Woollard
authors.affiliation: Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Vitamins Working Party; ; Core Clinical Pathology and Biochemistry, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia;
authors.forename: Kirsten E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Hoad
authors.affiliation: Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Vitamins Working Party; ; Biochemistry Department, Canterbury Health Laboratories, Christchurch, New Zealand;
authors.forename: Trevor A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Walmsley
authors.affiliation: Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Vitamins Working Party; ; Department of Chemical Pathology, Pathology Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia;
authors.forename: Lambro A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Vitamins Working Party; ; Department of Chemical Pathology, Pathology Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia;
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Briscoe
authors.affiliation: Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Vitamins Working Party; ; RCPAQAP Chemical Pathology, Adelaide, SA, Australia;
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koetsier
authors.affiliation: Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Vitamins Working Party; ; Sullivan and Nicolaides Pathology, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.
authors.forename: Tamantha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harrower
authors.affiliation: Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Vitamins Working Party; ; RCPAQAP Chemical Pathology, Adelaide, SA, Australia;
authors.forename: Janice P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gill