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PORTABLE CHOLESTEROL SCREENING IS OFTEN INACCURATE.

The accuracy of portable cholesterol screening analyzers is disappointingly low. Investigators compared the results of finger-stick measurements and those done by standard venipuncture at a reference laboratory. The analyses, performed on 417 samples obtained through four different screening organizations, showed that only one program's screening methods yielded results that were all within the "acceptable" range of the gold-standard measurement (plus or minus 8.9 percent). At the other sites, accuracy rates ranged from 67 percent to 89 percent.

Inaccurate measurements were most likely to be underestimates of the true value, leading to false-negative results in the effort to screen for high-risk patients. Sources of error identified by the University of Minnesota included insufficient operator training and inadequate quality control. A second report in the same issue indicates that even under ideal conditions, compact chemistry analyzers provide variable results.

Noting these data and those from other studies documenting the difficulty of obtaining reproducible cholesterol measurements, an accompanying editorial urges that several cholesterol levels be used to determine a patient's status, and encourages manufacturers to continue the search for better monitoring technologies.

— THL

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine March 6, 1990

Citation(s):

Belsey R; Baer DM. Cardiac risk classification based on lipid screening. JAMA 1990 Mar 2 263 1250-1252.

• Medline abstract (Free)

Kaufman HW et al. How reliably can compact chemistry analyzers measure lipids. JAMA 1990 Mar 2 263 1245-1249.

• Medline abstract (Free)

Naughton MJ et al. The accuracy of portable cholesterol analyzers in public screening programs. JAMA 1990 Mar 2 263 1213-1217.

• Medline abstract (Free)