Quality Assurance/Control Issues

New Statistical Software for Intralaboratory and Interlaboratory Quality Control in Clinical Cytology

“…Both measures are important in monitoring the performance and consistency of work within an individual laboratory; that is an essential part of any quality control program. 6,[12][13][14]18,20 In the 2 outputs, the marked differences in these key indicators can be easily visualized, and this makes it simple for laboratory management to pinpoint suboptimal performers within the laboratory.…”

“…1,2,9 However, like any other diagnostic procedure, Pap smear screening can be compromised at several points. 6,8,9 Hence, systematic monitoring of every step of the screening procedure is a fundamental prerequisite of making the program a success. 1,2,6,[10][11][12][13][14] The lack of interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility of cytologic diagnosis is a well-recognized source of variation among individual observers and laboratories [15][16][17][18] and has been discussed in several recent articles.…”

“…6,8,9 Hence, systematic monitoring of every step of the screening procedure is a fundamental prerequisite of making the program a success. 1,2,6,[10][11][12][13][14] The lack of interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility of cytologic diagnosis is a well-recognized source of variation among individual observers and laboratories [15][16][17][18] and has been discussed in several recent articles. [19][20][21][22][23] In Italy these issues have been seriously considered as part of measures taken toward improvement of ongoing regional screening programs.…”

Reproducibility of Classification and Correction for Verification Bias as Determinants of Performance of Papanicolaou Smear Cytology in the Screening Setting

“…[4][5][6] The problems recently ascribed to Pap smear cytology are due to several reasons, including (1) different technical modifications, [7][8][9] (2) divergent classifications used in different geographic regions (e.g., United States vs. Europe) [10][11][12][13][14][15] and (3) inherent suboptimal reproducibility as measured by intraobserver and interobserver variation in diagnosis. [16][17][18][19][20] The problems in conventional Pap smear cytology have prompted several active measures taken to counteract these inherent flaws in this traditional diagnostic tool. Most important, these include technical innovations in the late 1990s leading to the development of liquid-based cytology techniques, 9 cytology automation [1][2][3]12,13 and rigorous quality control measures to improve the reproducibility.…”

An Analysis of Quality Control in Pap Cytology in A Tertiary Care Centre By Using ASC to SIL Ratio

“…Quality control is defined as a system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality in an individual test or process. [2] The main objective of quality control is to eliminate the false negative test results. [3] For practical purposes, quality control can be divided into internal and external quality control.…”