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. 2023 Sep 28:37:e00339.
doi: 10.1016/j.plabm.2023.e00339. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Model of implementing proficiency testing in Vietnam, a developing country

Hy Triet Van  1   2   3 , Van Thanh Tran  1   4 , Manh Tuan Ha  1   2 , Quang Huy Vu  5
Affiliations

Model of implementing proficiency testing in Vietnam, a developing country

Hy Triet Van et al. Pract Lab Med. .

Abstract

Backgrounds and aims: The aim of this study is to provide a good approach for a quantitative EQA scheme assigned value with limited resources.

Materials and methods: Twelve lyophilized EQA items were distributed to participants in 2021 from North to Southeast Vietnam to measure the concentration of nine parameters, including glucose, urea, creatinine, cholesterol, triglyceride, uric acid, AST, ALT, and GGT. The consensus value of the expert group and all participants were calculated and statistically compared to choose the most appropriate consensus value.

Results: Fifty-nine laboratories attended the EQA scheme, including an expert group using automatic biochemistry analyzers (AAs) and all participants with auto and semi-auto biochemistry (SAA) analyzers. Consensus values of six per nine parameters were different between the two groups for at least two EQA items, including glucose, creatinine, cholesterol, uric acid, AST, and ALT. The coefficients of variation of glucose, urea, creatinine, triglycerides, uric acid, and GGT in the expert group were significantly lower than those in all the participants.

Conclusion: Using the consensus values of expert groups as the assigned values of the EQA program is a relevant strategy to increase testing quality in developing countries with limited resources, such as Vietnam.

Keywords: Assigned value; Clinical chemistry; Expert group; External quality assessment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The average percentage of the homogenous systems (HAA), the heterogeneous system (OAA), and semi-auto biochemistry analyzer (SAA) in all participant laboratories.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The consensus values of 9 parameters (the name of parameter shown in each chart) from the expert group (E) and all participants group (general: G) (12 samples). (*) indicate that the difference between the consensus value between the expert group and all participants significantly, with p < 0.05.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
(3A) The percentage of unacceptable EQA results come from semi-auto biochemistry instruments of nine parameters (12 samples); (3B) The average percentage of unacceptable EQA results come from homogeneous system (HAA), the heterogeneous system (OAA) and semi-auto biochemistry analyzer (SAA).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The bias of the consensus value from all participants to the expert group of nine parameters. (BS: bias sample).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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