Investigation on the distribution of critical value limits in adult patients in Beijing

Objective To investigate the distribution of critical values of adults in Beijing, to provide the evidence for the formulation of the Standardized Management Guideline in Critical Values, in order to promote the accurate management of critical values. Methods A total of 110 398 data of critical values from the tertiary and above medical institutions during January 1 to May 31 in 2015 in Beijing were collected by the way of on-site inspection, covering the disciplines of hematology, clinical chemistry, coagulation and blood gas analysis. Fristly, the selected critical values were classified by the factor of admission departments and disease types, then were analyzed by using Kruskal-Wallis test, to compare the differences in each group. Secondly, the combined groups were classified by the factor of gender then were analyzed by using Mann-Whithey U test, to compare the differences in each group. Finally, the stratification thresholds of critical values were established. Results Except for the upper limits of Ca, pH, pCO2, Hb and the lower limits of Glu, pH, the rest of thresholds of critical values had significant differences due to different admission departments and disease types and/or gender. Conclusion Depending on the different admission departmentsces disease types and/or gender, hierarchical limit values on each critical value were formulated. (Chin J Lab Med, 2016, 39: 181-186) Key words: Hematologic tests; Clinical chemistry tests; Blood coagulation tests; Blood gas analysis; Predictive value of tests