External quality assessment of Jordanian clinical chemistry laboratories.

A two-year study using inter-laboratory surveys has been carried out to assess the analytical quality of Jordanian clinical chemistry laboratories. The study surveyed greater than 65% (60 laboratories) of Jordanian laboratories using 18 control specimens and covering a total of 15 analytes. Close agreement was obtained between the consensus values and the designated values for analytes which had mean values within the normal range, whereas significantly lower consensus values were obtained for glucose, creatinine, bilirubin and urea in the pathological range. Considerable interlaboratory variation was observed in Jordan relative to EQA schemes in other countries. This study highlighted several problems in Jordanian laboratories, and stressed the need for a national EQA scheme with an effective means of providing continuous advice, education and training in clinical chemistry.