[Quality assessment for preanalytical phase in clinical laboratory: a multicentric study]

Purpose: To show the number of preanalytical sample errors in seven laboratories attending seven health departments of Valencian Community (Spain).

Methods: Cross-sectional study of the number of preanlytical errors in samples obtained in primary care centers. An error is defined as a rejected specimen: any blood or urine sample, which cannot be successfully tested as it does not meet the acceptability criteria of the laboratory or if the sample is not received. We collected preanalytical errors from the tests requested for hematology, coagulation, chemistry, and urine samples. Registers were collected and indicators calculated automatically through a data warehouse and OLAP cubes software.

Results: Large differences in the results of preanalytical errors were observed between health departments. The highest percentage of errors occurred in coagulation samples, followed by urine, hematology and biochemistry. With regard to the type of error, the largest proportion of errors was due to failures of process.

Conclusions: The high incidence of preanalytical errors and variability between health departments suggests that there is a need to standardize the drawing practice.