European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ESTABLISHING REFERENCE INTERVALS (RIS) FOR NEPALESE POPULATION: A PROTOCOL AND PROCEDURE.

R. V. Mahato*, R. K. Singh, A. M. Dutta and M. Lamsal

ABSTRACT

The reference intervals (RIs) given in laboratory reports have an important role for a clinicians to interpret test results in reference to values obtained for healthy populations. In Nepal reference values used in laboratories is either from scientific literature or from kit insert by manufacturers which have been established for Western or European population. It is well known that population across the globe differs physiologically, genetically; ethnically, their lifestyle, food habits and diet have great impact on the reference values. Thus, it is inappropriate to use RIs that do not represent the local population. According to International Federation for Clinical Chemistry (IFCC), each laboratory has to develop its own reference RI. This approach highlights protocol and standard operating procedure (SOPs) for conducting RI studies for a small laboratory as well as on a national scale to establish reference interval for Nepalese population using the IFCC-CRIDL recent guidelines (C28-A3).1-7.

Keywords: Reference value, reference range, IFCC, CLSI, Reference interval, Protocol.