| dc.description.abstract | Objective: In this study, hospital patient data
was used to derive reference intervals for
selected clinical laboratory tests.
Methods: Data were obtained indirectly using
our hospital database including both sexes. No
selection criteria have been applied. The data
has been partitioned into only three age groups
as, 3-20, 21-60 and 61 to older in order to
prevent age related grouping in the distribution.
The distributions have been checked by
normality analysis using Kolmogorov-Smirnov
test. Nonparametric percentile estimate method
was used to obtain reference intervals in the age
groups of 21-60 and 61 to older. In age group 3-
20, the number of data were below 120 in most
tests so, GraphROC for Windows, a statistical
package which performs a robust modified
nonparametric method, was used to find
reference intervals.
Results: Most of the test data did not show
Gaussian distribution form and parametric
analysis of these data has failed. Instead,
nonparametric analysis has succeeded in
establishing the intervals in three age groups.
Conclusion: The results resembled the
characteristics of our hospital patient population.
Especially, protein and lipid parameters showed
clear differences in our population, compared to
the reference values of the manufacturer, which
are currently used. This study has been a clear
evidence indicating the importance of
determination of reference intervals and the
analysis of indirectly selected hospital patient
data using nonparametric statistical techniques. | en_US |
