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Criteria to define the standard deviation for proficiency assessment for the determination of essential trace elements in serum: comparison of Z-scores based on the Horwitz function or on biological variability

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Abstract

A critical issue in the organisation of Proficiency Testing/External Quality Assessment Schemes is the definition of the criteria against which the performance of individual laboratories should be evaluated. Organisers of EQAS in Occupational and Environmental Laboratory Medicine (http://www.occupational-environmental-laboratory.com) collaborate to define common acceptable levels of performance. The aim of this study was to compare the Horwitz function to the Fraser’s approach. Sets of results obtained from the distribution of test materials in the Network schemes (for the measurands: copper, selenium or zinc in serum) were used to calculate Z-scores according to both approaches. Quality specifications derived from both approaches were also compared to the standard deviations obtained. Except for selenium, Horwitz criteria suggests a more stringent evaluation than Fraser criteria, the latter being very stringent as regard the participant analytical variability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Biologie Intégrée, Pôle de biologie, CHU de Grenoble, 38043, Grenoble Cedex 9, France

    Josiane Arnaud

  2. Elemental Analysis Laboratory, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, 30341-3724, Atlanta, Georgia

    Robert L. Jones

  3. Centre de Toxicologie, Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, 945 avenue Wolfe, Québec, G1V 5B3, QC, Canada

    Alain LeBlanc & Jean-Philippe Weber

  4. Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, #34-4 Gusan-Dong, Bupyong-gu, Incheon, 403-711, Republic of Korea

    Mi-Young Lee

  5. Higiene Industrial, Centro de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, Gobierno de Cantabria, 39012, Santander, Spain

    Olav Mazarrasa

  6. Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, PO Box 509, Albany, NY, 12201-0509, USA

    Patrick Parsons

  7. Department of Public Veterinary Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy

    Marina Patriarca

  8. Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Centre for Clinical Science and Measurement, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK

    Andrew Taylor

  9. MCA Laboratory, Queen Beatrix Hospital, 7101 BN, Winterswijk, The Netherlands

    Cas Weykamp

Authors
  1. Josiane Arnaud
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  2. Robert L. Jones
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  3. Alain LeBlanc
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  4. Mi-Young Lee
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  5. Olav Mazarrasa
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  6. Patrick Parsons
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  7. Marina Patriarca
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  8. Andrew Taylor
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  9. Jean-Philippe Weber
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  10. Cas Weykamp
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marina Patriarca.

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Arnaud, J., Jones, R.L., LeBlanc, A. et al. Criteria to define the standard deviation for proficiency assessment for the determination of essential trace elements in serum: comparison of Z-scores based on the Horwitz function or on biological variability. Accred Qual Assur 14, 427–430 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-009-0561-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-009-0561-4

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