Habtamu Asrat
Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Ethiopia
Title: Quality Control practices for Quantitative tests in Ethiopian Public Health Facility Laboratories
Biography
Biography: Habtamu Asrat
Abstract
Background: Quality Control (QC) in the clinical laboratory is a system designed to increase the probability that each result reported by the laboratory is valid and can be used with confidence by the provider to make a diagnostic or therapeutic decision. It is a critical component of quality assurance in the laboratory and laboratory tests without quality control is not reliable. This study used as a baseline information for quality control usage in public health facility laboratories in Ethiopia. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 1, 2017- December 31, 2017. Systematic random
sampling technique was used to select hospital laboratories. A standardized questionnaire was developed to collect data from selected 71 public health facility laboratories nationwide.
Results: A total of 71 public health facility laboratories participated in the study, of which 5 specialized, 6 referral, 20 general and 29 primary hospital laboratories and 11 were regional reference laboratories. Among the study participants 51 (71.8%) directly used manufacturer’s set mean and standard deviation to monitor their quality control performance while 20 (28.2%) calculated their own mean and standard deviation. Out of 71 participants, only 16 (22.5%) laboratories drew Levey-Jennings chart, of which 14 (19.7%) laboratories used Westgard Rules (3 labs used single rule and 14 laboratories used multi rules). Only 4 (5.6%) laboratories calculated their monthly sigma or SEC as a quality indicator. Forty-two (59.5%) laboratories perform quality control lot verification during receiving new batch to their laboratory while 29 (39.5%) don’t do lot verification. But 48 (67.6%) laboratories faced inconsistent or shortage of quality control supplies.
Results: A total of 71 public health facility laboratories participated in the study, of which 5 specialized, 6 referral, 20 general and 29 primary hospital laboratories and 11 were regional reference laboratories. Among the study participants 51 (71.8%) directly used manufacturer’s set mean and standard deviation to monitor their quality control performance while 20 (28.2%) calculated their own mean and standard deviation. Out of 71 participants, only 16 (22.5%) laboratories drew Levey-Jennings chart, of which 14 (19.7%) laboratories used Westgard Rules (3 labs used single rule and 14 laboratories used multi rules). Only 4 (5.6%) laboratories calculated their monthly sigma or SEC as a quality indicator. Forty-two (59.5%) laboratories perform quality control lot verification during receiving new batch to their laboratory while 29 (39.5%) don’t do lot verification. But 48 (67.6%) laboratories faced inconsistent or shortage of quality control supplies.
Conclusions: Although the laboratory quality management system is being implemented in Ethiopia for the last 10 years, quality control practice showed a poor performance. Therefore, the national laboratory program should give attention to improve the quality control practice in the laboratory nationwide.