Peer-review started: January 12, 2016
First decision: February 2, 2016
Revised: March 14, 2016
Accepted: April 5, 2016
Article in press: April 6, 2016
Published online: May 12, 2016
Processing time: 118 Days and 22.8 Hours
AIM: To study the impact of rejection at different levels of health care by retrospectively reviewing records of dried blood spot samples received at the molecular laboratory for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) early infant diagnosis (EID) between January 2008 and December 2012.
METHODS: The specimen rejection rate, reasons for rejection and the impact of rejection at different levels of health care was examined. The extracted data were cleaned and checked for consistency and then de-duplicated using the unique patient and clinic identifiers. The cleaned data were ciphered and exported to SPSS version 19 (SPSS 2010 IBM Corp, New York, United States) for statistical analyses.
RESULTS: Sample rejection rate of 2.4% (n = 786/32552) and repeat rate of 8.8% (n = 69/786) were established. The mean age of infants presenting for first HIV molecular test among accepted valid samples was 17.83 wk (95%CI: 17.65-18.01) vs 20.30 wk (95%CI: 16.53-24.06) for repeated samples. HIV infection rate was 9.8% vs 15.9% for accepted and repeated samples. Compared to tertiary healthcare clinics, secondary and primary clinics had two-fold and three-fold higher likelihood of sample rejection, respectively (P < 0.05). We observed a significant increase in sample rejection rate with increasing number of EID clinics (r = 0.893, P = 0.041). The major reasons for rejection were improper sample collection (26.3%), improper labeling (16.4%) and insufficient blood (14.8%).
CONCLUSION: Programs should monitor pre-analytical variables and incorporate continuous quality improvement interventions to reduce errors associated with sample rejection and improve patient retention.
Core tip: For early infant diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus, the samples of choice are dried blood spots (DBS). DBS samples are received from over 100 health care centers at the Asokoro Laboratory Training Centre. When DBS arrives the laboratory, a technician receives the samples as well as all accompanying laboratory request forms and all relevant documentation. All routinely collected DBS samples are physically examined for quality and acceptability for molecular testing upon reception at the laboratory. Only samples that meet the laboratory acceptance criteria are usually tested. Samples which fail to meet the acceptance criteria are registered in the sample rejection logbook without being tested. All DBS samples accepted as fit-for-testing are electronically registered into the laboratory information management system (LIMS). The use of the LIMS reduces instances of transcriptional errors. DBS samples are processed using real-time PCR technology on the Cobas Taqman and Cobas ampliprep equipment. DBS samples are cut, eluted into solution, and then placed in the equipment where DNA extraction, amplification and detection is automatically carried out. Once results are ready, they are validated by the laboratory scientist for accuracy and completeness. If assay is judged to be a valid run, the assay is accepted with a click of a computer button.