Survey of patient perception of pre-analytical requirements for blood testing in the UK and RoI

Abstract

Background A patient survey developed by the Pre-Analytical Phase Special Interest Group of the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB-PA-SIG) was conducted during November and December 2019. The survey aimed to determine the quality of information provided to patients in preparation for their blood test(s). In addition, the ACB-PA-SIG provide a number of recommendations, which, if adopted, may yield higher quality test results and improve patient management. Methods The survey was distributed at phlebotomy suites in two Hospitals: Ipswich Hospital (United Kingdom [UK]), and Cork University Hospital (Republic of Ireland [RoI]). Results Overall, 235 survey responses were received from the two sites. A total of 103 respondents received no information about preparing for their blood test and 92 had been told they did not need to fast. None of the patients surveyed had been instructed to fast for 12 h. Twenty-two patients had been told to avoid certain foods, drinks or medication, 14 were told to avoid strenuous activity and 41 respondents had been informed of the need to avoid alcohol/smoking prior to their blood test. Overall, only approximately 78 felt well informed about the blood taking process. Conclusions Based on the results of this survey, the ACB-PA-SIG conclude that: (1) clinicians should provide clear written information to patients regarding pre-analytical requirements; and (2) effective communication between laboratories and General Practitioners is required to disseminate information. In this paper, the ACB-PA-SIG provide a list of pre-analytical recommendations to standardize and improve practice across the UK and RoI.

A survey on the practice of phlebotomy in Lithuania and adherence to the EFLM-COLABIOCLI recommendations

“…Nevertheless, it is always important to know the fasting status of the patient and interpret the results accordingly. It is also important to note that patients may not be fully aware of the significance of fasting or may not be well informed about the requirement to fast ( 7 - 9 ). We identified this step as error-prone, and similar error frequencies have been reported in other European countries ( 1 ).…”

“…These limitations could introduce a potential source of selection bias and limit the generalisability of the findings to the entire population of specialists in the country. Nevertheless, questionnaires are a widely used method to assess compliance with various guidelines or recommendations, as well as to gather information on compliance with guidelines for VBS ( 1 , 5 , 7 , 9 , 12 , 27 , 28 ). Another method that could be used for this purpose is observation studies.…”

“…Errors commonly encountered during the VBS procedure are often associated with patient misidentification, inadequate patient preparation, improper tourniquet application, incorrect order of draw, and sample contamination or inadequate mixing with the additives present in tubes (1, [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. To minimise the rate of occurrence of these errors, it is crucial to adhere to proper recommendations for phlebotomy.…”

Assessing Non-Laboratory Healthcare Professionals’ Attitude towards the Importance of Patient Preparation for Laboratory Tests

“…Studies have shown that only a minority of the patients tend to arrive well-prepared for blood sample collection [23,29,35], and this is no exception in Lithuania [26]. The reasons for this trend could be several.…”

“…Current studies have shown that patients often present for laboratory tests ill-prepared [23][24][25][26]. Multiple factors contribute to this lack of preparation, including variations in preparation recommendations from different laboratories [8,27,28] and patient attitudes towards the significance of preparation for laboratory testing [29]. Additionally, the attitude of non-laboratory healthcare professionals regarding the importance of patient preparation for laboratory testing can be another influential factor affecting the quality of patient preparation.…”