• Jerold C Alcantara, Bandar Alharbi, Yasser Almotairi, Mohammad Jahoor Alam, Abdel Rahim Mahmoud Muddathir, and Khalid Alshaghdali.
• Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Hail, Saudi Arabia.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2022 Jul 8; 101 (27): e29853e29853.

AbstractPatient safety and medical diagnosis of patients are mainly influenced by laboratory results. The present study aimed to evaluate the errors in the preanalytical phase of testing in a Clinical Chemistry diagnostic laboratory. A review was conducted at the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory of a hospital in Saudi Arabia from January 2019 to December 2020. Using the laboratory information system, the data of all canceled tests and requests were retrieved and evaluated for preanalytical errors. A total of 55,345 laboratory test requests and samples from different departments were evaluated for preanalytical errors. An overall rate of 12.1% (6705) was determined as preanalytical errors. The occurrence of these errors was found to be highest in the emergency department (21%). The leading preanalytical errors were nonreceived samples (3.7%) and hemolysis (3.5%). The annual preanalytical errors revealed an increasing rate in outpatient and inpatient departments, while a decreasing rate was observed in the emergency department. An increased rate of errors was also noted for the 2-year study period from 11.3% to 12.9%. The preanalytical phase has a significant impact on the quality of laboratory results. The rate of error in the study was high and the leading causes were nonreceived samples and hemolysis. An increased occurrence of hemolyzed samples in the outpatient department was noted. Enhanced educational efforts emphasizing specimen quality issues and training in sample collection among hospital staff must be carried out.Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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