Background: Reference intervals provided by diagnostic test manufacturers should be transferred to clinical laboratories after validation. Although protocols exist, laboratories rarely perform and report on results of validation studies.
Methods: We validated reference intervals (RIs) of 87 analytes on a Cobas 8000 platform according to standards published by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI).
Results: For 8 analytes, decision limits were provided in the package inserts. Among the 79 RIs subjected to transference validation, 8 were found not valid for transference, including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) among women, and the following among both sexes: potassium, homocysteine, immunoglobulin E (IgE), free lambda light chain (FLC λ), C3 complement (C3c), folate, and 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25[(OH]D). For LDH, potassium, homocysteine, C3c, folate, and 25(OH)D, RIs or thresholds suitable for transference were available in the literature; however, this was not the case for IgE and FLC λ.
Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that validation of RIs provided in the manufacturer provided package inserts is indispensable.
Keywords: analytical system; decision limit; guideline; reference values; test provider; transference.
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