Method comparison study

When a laboratory starts measuring a value from a new kind of sample, it needs to know whether the result matches the result from the usual method. In a method comparison study the same people give both samples at the same time, and the laboratory compares the pairs of results value by value.

The study shows whether the new method gives the same result, a result that is higher or lower by a steady amount, or a result that varies too much to use. The laboratory can then decide which values to offer from the new sample type and whether it needs its own reference ranges for them.

For a buyer this study is the evidence behind a capillary offer. Ask a supplier which values have been compared with venous blood, how many people took part, and whether the results are available to you.

In this glossary, Kapillarblut and Venenblut explain the two sample types, and Referenzbereich covers the ranges a laboratory uses to read a result.