Clinical Laboratory Test Unit Homogeneity —an Urgent Need

To the Editor A recent Letter to the Editor written by Song and Zheng reported corrections to measurement units for a number of laboratory data previously published by Wu et al. Errors in measurement units are frequent in the literature; regrettably, the heterogeneity of measurement units among different commercially available analytical methods for a given biomarker is a key factor introducing an increased likelihood of errors. Several crucial issues arise from this scenario: poor accuracy in the reporting of laboratory test results by authors of clinical trials and experimental studies; poor awareness of the potential harmful consequences for patients and research results deriving from these errors (eg, misleading conclusions regarding test sensitivity and specificity); poor equivalence between published studies; poor interpretation of data collected electronically, which means the failure of electronic health record and big data collection and storage; and poor safety for patients.
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research