Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28879108›Full record

ArticleAfrican journal of laboratory medicine2016

Dried blood spot specimen quality and validation of a new pre-analytical processing method for qualitative HIV-1 PCR, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Kerusha Govender, Raveen Parboosing, Ntombizandile Siyaca, Pravikrishnen Moodley

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Article in African journal of laboratory medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

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  6. Clinical Mass Spectrometry in the Bioinformatics Era: A Hitchhiker's Guide.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2018
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Kerusha GovenderDepartment of Virology, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, National Health Laboratory Service, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Raveen ParboosingDepartment of Virology, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, National Health Laboratory Service, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Ntombizandile SiyacaDepartment of Virology, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, National Health Laboratory Service, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Pravikrishnen MoodleyDepartment of Virology, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, National Health Laboratory Service, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPoor quality dried blood spot (DBS) specimens are usually rejected by virology laboratories, affecting early infant diagnosis of HIV. The practice of combining two incompletely-filled DBS in one specimen preparation tube during pre-analytical specimen processing (i.e., the two-spot method) has been implemented to reduce the number of specimens being rejected for insufficient volume.

objectivesThis study analysed laboratory data to describe the quality of DBS specimens and the use of the two-spot method over a one-year period, then validated the two-spot method against the standard (one-spot) method.

methodsData on HIV-1 PCR test requests submitted in 2014 to the Department of Virology at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa were analysed to describe reasons for specimen rejection, as well as results of the two-spot method. The accuracy, lower limit of detection and precision of the two-spot method were assessed.

resultsOf the 88 481 specimens received, 3.7% were rejected for pre-analytical problems. Of those, 48.9% were rejected as a result of insufficient specimen volume. Two health facilities had significantly more specimen rejections than other facilities. The two-spot method prevented 10 504 specimen rejections. The Pearson correlation coefficient comparing the standard to the two-spot method was 0.997.

conclusionsThe two-spot method was comparable with the standard method of pre-analytical specimen processing. Two health facilities were identified for targeted retraining on specimen quality. The two-spot method of DBS specimen processing can be used as an adjunct to retraining, to reduce the number of specimens rejected and improve linkage to care.

Identifiers

PMID28879108
PMCPMC5436398

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.