The distribution of selected hematology measurements in the CAP survey.

Investigation of the 1978 CAP Hematology Survey results for hemoglobin, hematocrit, erythrocyte count, leukocyte count, prothrombin time, and partial thromboplastin time with respect to the assumption of normality and the method for detecting outliers was performed. The findings indicate that the assumption of normality, while not exactly valid, is reasonable for the purposes of the Survey, but that the method of determining outliers may be too stringent in the case of hemoglobin, hematocrit, erythrocyte count, and leukocyte count, and not appropriate for prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time. These findings are similar to those reported earlier for selected chemistry and immunology constituents in the CAP Survey.