Selected article for: "EQA external quality assessment and external quality assessment"

Author: Abdul-Khaliq, Catherine
Title: Development of a United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Scheme (UK NEQAS) for HIV point of care testing
  • Document date: 2011_3_23
  • ID: 10omkpwl_4
    Snippet: In addition to the detection of HIV antibodies, new fourth-generation POCTs can also detect the presence of HIV p24 antigen; antibodies to p24 antigen are membrane bound and detect p24 antigen in the sample. These tests reduce the time to diagnosis as HIV infection can be detected before seroconversion. 5 Studies show that the use of POCTs for the detection of HIV is increasing rapidly in both laboratory and other clinical settings, especially in.....
    Document: In addition to the detection of HIV antibodies, new fourth-generation POCTs can also detect the presence of HIV p24 antigen; antibodies to p24 antigen are membrane bound and detect p24 antigen in the sample. These tests reduce the time to diagnosis as HIV infection can be detected before seroconversion. 5 Studies show that the use of POCTs for the detection of HIV is increasing rapidly in both laboratory and other clinical settings, especially in developing countries. For example, following the introduction of POCTs in Malawi the number of people receiving an HIV test annually rose from 5000 to 40 000 and the number of those tested who remained to receive results increased from 69% to 99.7%. 4 HIV POCTs are often performed by non-laboratory trained individuals such as nurses. 6 The results of these tests are interpreted by the user, which is very subjective and relies heavily on user expertise and knowledge of the test principle. 4 Adequate training and quality assurance procedures should be in place, as with any other assay, to ensure reliable results. 7 External quality assessment (EQA) has an important role in the quality assurance measures of every laboratory or clinic as participation in an EQA scheme allows the user to monitor their own quality assurance procedures and to readily identify and remedy any problems with internal quality control measures. It demonstrates to patients and other professionals a commitment to quality. 8 Participating in an EQA scheme contributes to a laboratory's accreditation status awarded by the appropriate governing body, for instance the Clinical Pathology Accreditation. Although participation in an EQA scheme is not compulsory for sexual health clinics or laboratories, unless they wish to gain accreditation, a bulletin by the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and a document by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) relating to point of care testing (EN ISO 22870:2006) state that users of POCTs should participate in an appropriate EQA scheme.

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