Performance evaluation of a new high throughput Mindray BS-2000M1 clinical chemistry system

Metabolic Syndrome Among Working Adults in Eastern Ethiopia

PURPOSE

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has become a public health challenge in low-income countries due to changing lifestyle and the food environment. However, studies on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and associated factors are limited in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study assessed the prevalence of MetS and its associated factors among working adults in eastern Ethiopia.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 1,164 working adults from December 2018 to February 2019. Data were collected following the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach. The data collection tools include a structured questionnaire, anthropometric, and biochemical measurements. Prevalence was calculated using International Diabetes Federation criteria. A Poisson regression model with robust variance estimation was used to investigate the independent variable's association with MetS. An adjusted prevalence ratio with 95% confidence interval was reported to show associations.

RESULTS

The prevalence of MetS was 20.1% (95% CI=17.8-22.4) among the participants. It was more prevalent among females (APR:=1.62, 95% CI=1.31-2.00), those of 35-44 years of age (APR:=3.14, 95% CI=1.19-8.28), 45-54 years of age (APR=4.42, 95% CI=1.66-11.77), and 55-64 years of age (APR=6.03, 95% CI=2.27-16.06), khat chewers (APR=1.30, 95% CI=1.06-1.60), those with 8 or more hours of sedentary behavior (APR=2.29, 95% CI=1.88-2.80), and those consuming alcohol 5-6 days per week (APR=1.81, 95% CI=1.20-2.74). The prevalence was significantly lower in those eating five or more fruits and vegetables servings per day (APR=0.04, 95% CI=0.01-0.27).

CONCLUSION

A high prevalence of MetS was observed among working adults in eastern Ethiopia. Strengthening workplace health promotion programs is necessary to reduce the negative consequences of MetS in workplaces and protect productivity.

Performance characteristics of automated clinical chemistry analyzers using commercial assay reagents contributing to quality assurance and clinical decision in a hospital laboratory

Background: Clinical laboratories provide essential diagnostic services that are essential in clinical decision making, contributing to the quality of healthcare. The performance of two Siemens ADVIA 1800 analyzers was characterized in a hospital Biochemistry laboratory in order to evaluate the analytical characteristics of such automated analyzer systems using nonoriginal assay reagents attempting to support laboratory quality service and crucial clinical decision making. Methods: We independently completed performance validation studies including trueness, precision, sensitivity as well as measurement of uncertainty and sigma metrics calculation for 25 biochemical parameters. Results: Trueness expressed as bias was less than 20% for both ADVIA 1800 analyzers. Within run and total precisions expressed as CV% were ≤9.85% on both analyzers for most parameters studied with few exceptions (Mg, TB, DB, Cl, HDL and UA) observed either in low or in high level samples and between the two analyzers. LoB, LoD and LoQ values produced by the two analyzers were comparable except Cl. Uncertainty values produced by the two analyzers were comparable with no significant differences. Quality performance of reagent assays was studied using the sigma metrics system. The sigma values were plotted on normalized method decision charts for graphical representation of assay performances for each analyzer. Conclusions: The two ADVIA systems, independently evaluated, showed consistent performance characteristics with certain discrepancies by several reagents. Sigma analysis was helpful for revealing the quality performance of non-original reagents supporting the need for strict assessment of quality assurance and in some instances optimization/improvement of assay methods.

Analytical performance of three diagnostic reagents for HBsAg on an automatic ELISA analyzer

PURPOSE

We conducted performance tests of three HBsAg ELISA diagnostic reagents using an Addcare 600 (Yantai Addcare Bio-tech Limited Company) and studied the consistency between the qualitative results and chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) results.

METHODS

Diagnostic kits (ELISA) for HBsAg manufactured by INTEC ("A"), KHB ("B") and Wantai ("C") were tested on an Addcare 600 to evaluate their intermediate precision, repeatability, and C50. Furthermore, three ELISA detection systems and a quantitative test kit for HBsAg (Abbott) were employed to screen 1000 serum samples, while CMIA reactive samples were used to perform the confirmatory tests. The evaluation indexes of the ELISA reagent performances were calculated.

RESULTS

The intermediate precision and repeatability of each system were <14% and <9%, respectively, while C50 was 0.105-0.115 IU/mL. The sensitivities of A, B, and C were 98.70%, 99.28%, and 99.13%, respectively, while their specificities were 98.06%, 99.03%, and 97.42%, respectively. The Youden indexes were 96.76%, 98.31%, and 96.55%, respectively, while the kappa values were 0.965 (P=.000), 0.981 (P=.000), and 0.967 (P=.000), respectively.

CONCLUSION

The combination of Addcare 600 with the three reagents could meet the clinical requirement. Reagent B demonstrated the best performance. Although the results consistency among the three systems and CMIA was good, our findings suggest that ELISA should be combined with a confirmatory test to exclude false-positive and false-negative results caused by low HBsAg levels.