QUALITY CONTROL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Quality Control (QC) - Answers - Monitors activities related to examination (analytic)
phase of testing
Goal of QC - Answers - To detect, evaluate and correct errors due to test system failure,
environmental conditions or operator performance, before patient results are reported
Internal quality control (IQC) - Answers - Defined by WHO as a set of procedures for
continuously assessing laboratory work and the emergent results
Controls - Answers - Substances that contain an established amount of the substance
being tested
Analyte - Answers - The substance being tested
-validated the reliability of the test system
-evaluate the operators performance and environmental conditions that might impact
results - Answers - Purpose of the control
Calibrators - Answers - Are solutions with a specified defined concentration that are
used to set or calibrate an instrument, kit, or system before testing is begun
Calibrators - Answers - Often provided by the manifacturerof an instrument
Calibrators - Answers - Should not be used as controls since they are used to set the
instrument
Calibrators - Answers - Don't have the same consistency as patients' sample
-controls must be appropriate for the target diagnostic test
-controls should check both low values and high values
-controls should have the same matrix as patient samples - Answers - Characteristics to
consider in selecting controls
-frozen
-freeze-dried
-chemically preserved - Answers - Forms of control materials
Quantitative examinations - Answers - Measures the quantity of an analyte present in
the sample, and measurements need to be accurate and precise
Qualitative examination - Answers - Are those that measure the presence or absence of
a substance or evaluate cellular characteristics such as morphology
, Semiquantitative examination - Answers - Similar to qualitative examination, in that the
results are not expressed in quantitative terms
Semiquantitative examination - Answers - The result of this test is expressed as an
estimate of how much of the measured substance is present
QC materials are usually serum based. Universal precautions should be used handling.
- Answers - Remember!!!!
High
Low
Normal - Answers - Controls are usually available in what ranges?
standard deviation - Answers - Measure of variation
Central tendency - Answers - Characteristic of repeated measurements
Mode - Answers - Number that occurs most frequently
Median - Answers - The central point of the values when they are arranged in numerical
sequence
Mean - Answers - Arithmetic average of results
Mean - Answers - Most commonly used measure of central tendency used in laboratory
QC
Outliers - Answers - If one or two data points appear to be high or low for the set of
data, they should not be included when calculating QC ranges. They are called
______________
More than 2 outliers - Answers - How many outliers in a 20 data points would indicate
that there is a problem with the data and it should not be used?
Data points - Answers - Plotted in the x-axis
Frequency which the data points occur - Answers - Y-axis
Accuracy - Answers - Closeness of a measurement to its true value
Precision - Answers - Amount of variation in the measurements
More precise - Answers - The less the variation a measurement has
Smaller - Answers - In more precise measurements, the width of the curve is
____________
Quality Control (QC) - Answers - Monitors activities related to examination (analytic)
phase of testing
Goal of QC - Answers - To detect, evaluate and correct errors due to test system failure,
environmental conditions or operator performance, before patient results are reported
Internal quality control (IQC) - Answers - Defined by WHO as a set of procedures for
continuously assessing laboratory work and the emergent results
Controls - Answers - Substances that contain an established amount of the substance
being tested
Analyte - Answers - The substance being tested
-validated the reliability of the test system
-evaluate the operators performance and environmental conditions that might impact
results - Answers - Purpose of the control
Calibrators - Answers - Are solutions with a specified defined concentration that are
used to set or calibrate an instrument, kit, or system before testing is begun
Calibrators - Answers - Often provided by the manifacturerof an instrument
Calibrators - Answers - Should not be used as controls since they are used to set the
instrument
Calibrators - Answers - Don't have the same consistency as patients' sample
-controls must be appropriate for the target diagnostic test
-controls should check both low values and high values
-controls should have the same matrix as patient samples - Answers - Characteristics to
consider in selecting controls
-frozen
-freeze-dried
-chemically preserved - Answers - Forms of control materials
Quantitative examinations - Answers - Measures the quantity of an analyte present in
the sample, and measurements need to be accurate and precise
Qualitative examination - Answers - Are those that measure the presence or absence of
a substance or evaluate cellular characteristics such as morphology
, Semiquantitative examination - Answers - Similar to qualitative examination, in that the
results are not expressed in quantitative terms
Semiquantitative examination - Answers - The result of this test is expressed as an
estimate of how much of the measured substance is present
QC materials are usually serum based. Universal precautions should be used handling.
- Answers - Remember!!!!
High
Low
Normal - Answers - Controls are usually available in what ranges?
standard deviation - Answers - Measure of variation
Central tendency - Answers - Characteristic of repeated measurements
Mode - Answers - Number that occurs most frequently
Median - Answers - The central point of the values when they are arranged in numerical
sequence
Mean - Answers - Arithmetic average of results
Mean - Answers - Most commonly used measure of central tendency used in laboratory
QC
Outliers - Answers - If one or two data points appear to be high or low for the set of
data, they should not be included when calculating QC ranges. They are called
______________
More than 2 outliers - Answers - How many outliers in a 20 data points would indicate
that there is a problem with the data and it should not be used?
Data points - Answers - Plotted in the x-axis
Frequency which the data points occur - Answers - Y-axis
Accuracy - Answers - Closeness of a measurement to its true value
Precision - Answers - Amount of variation in the measurements
More precise - Answers - The less the variation a measurement has
Smaller - Answers - In more precise measurements, the width of the curve is
____________
