Assessment of the Beckman oxygen rate analyzer for the enzymatic assay of cholesterol.

We describe an evaluation of the Beckman oxygen rate analyzer for the determination of cholesterol. The precision and accuracy obtained did not fulfill the short-term criteria of the Center for Disease Control but the precision met the criteria of the College of American Pathologist for analysis of cholesterol in screening programs. Good overall correlation between the oxygen rate method and a continuous-flow method with prior extraction was found for patient samples. The results obtained by the oxygen rate method had net positive bias up to the limit of linearity of 8.6 mmol cholesterol/liter. The instrument is not recommended for laboratory or epidemiological studies but may prove useful in screening programs.