American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Washington, DC, United States.
ARUP Laboratories, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.
J Appl Lab Med. 2023 Nov 2;8(6):1160-1172. doi: 10.1093/jalm/jfad049.
Clinical laboratories immediately provided rapid, reliable, and high-throughout diagnostic testing for COVID-19, which was an essential component in combating the pandemic. As the pandemic evolved, the clinical laboratory was faced with additional challenges. However, there are limited studies on the impact of the pandemic on the clinical laboratory over the past 3 years.
The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) sent 8 surveys over a 32-month time period to international clinical laboratory leadership asking questions about COVID-19 testing, supplies, staffing, and lessons learned.
There were a total of 191 unique respondents: 133 laboratories in the US and 58 laboratories from 37 other countries participated. By May 2020, more than 70% of laboratories offered COVID-19 diagnostic testing with average turnaround times ranging from 1 to 24 h. Daily COVID-19 testing volumes peaked in January of 2022 at a median of 775 tests per day. Throughout the pandemic, supplies and staffing concerns increased. In most of the 8 surveys, 55% to 65% of laboratories reported they were unable to obtain supplies. Obtaining reagents and test kits was the most problematic. Staffing challenges continue to be a significant concern and most laboratories have struggled hiring testing personnel.
Survey results were utilized to demonstrate the impact of the pandemic on the clinical laboratory community, and importantly, findings were presented to the White House Coronavirus Taskforce. Overall, the clinical laboratories had a robust response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite ongoing and evolving challenges, continue to provide rapid diagnostic testing.
临床实验室立即为 COVID-19 提供了快速、可靠和高通量的诊断检测，这是抗击大流行的重要组成部分。随着大流行的发展，临床实验室面临着额外的挑战。然而，过去 3 年来，关于大流行对临床实验室影响的研究有限。
美国临床化学协会（AACC）在 32 个月的时间内向国际临床实验室领导层发送了 8 份调查，询问有关 COVID-19 检测、用品、人员配备和经验教训的问题。
共有 191 名受访者：美国的 133 个实验室和来自 37 个其他国家的 58 个实验室参加了调查。到 2020 年 5 月，超过 70%的实验室提供 COVID-19 诊断检测，平均周转时间在 1 至 24 小时之间。2022 年 1 月，每日 COVID-19 检测量达到峰值，中位数为每天 775 次。整个大流行期间，供应和人员配备问题不断增加。在 8 项调查中的大多数调查中，55%至 65%的实验室报告说他们无法获得供应品。获得试剂和检测试剂盒是最成问题的。人员配备挑战仍然是一个重大问题，大多数实验室在招聘检测人员方面都遇到了困难。
调查结果用于展示大流行对临床实验室社区的影响，重要的是，调查结果提交给了白宫冠状病毒特别工作组。总体而言，临床实验室对 COVID-19 大流行做出了强有力的反应，尽管面临持续和不断演变的挑战，它们仍继续提供快速诊断检测。
