Rational use of laboratory test

Beuy Joob¹ , Viroj Wiwanitkit²

¹ Sanitation 1 Medical Academic Center, Bangkok, Thailand
² Department of Biological Science , Joseph Ayobabalola University, Ondo, Nigeria

Correspondence Address:
Beuy Joob
Sanitation 1 Medical Academic Center, Bangkok
Thailand

Sir,

We read the editorial on “Rational use of laboratory tests in dermatology” with great interest.^[1] In this article, the editor discussed the way to properly use and interpret several laboratory tests. We would like to share ideas on this issue. Rational use of laboratory investigation is an important consideration in laboratory medicine. Rational use basically means proper investigation and correspondingly proper interpretation of results. The physicians must know the concept of the test and how to interpret the result of the test. Also, the commonly forgotten issue is the preparation of the patient for getting the test. In laboratory medicine, pre-analytical error is common and it is sometimes related to poor preparation of the patients.^[2] Quality assurance to control the laboratory error is usually needed. Nevertheless, rational use of laboratory test also means selection of the test that is cost-effective and affordable to the patient.^[3] In addition, the availability of the analysis and the turnaround time of the analysis are also matters of concern. Some tests might be useful but not available or have very long waiting time for the results, which is not appropriate for the requirement for prompt management of the problem. In conclusion, there are several considerations in clinical practice for the dermatologists to have rational use of laboratory tests in their clinical practice.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

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