Identification of Pre-analytical Errors in the Laboratory of National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Sri Lanka

Background: Laboratory investigations are the backbone of the diagnosis of diseases. Previous studies have shown that more than 70% of clinical laboratory specimens have to be rejected due to pre-analytical errors.
Objective: To determine the sample error rate and identify the causes of sample errors to prevent pre-analytical errors on a laboratory basis.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Details were recorded on a data sheet from the received blood samples which were rejected. Sample rejection criteria were described using a formula.
Results: The overall sample rejection rate was found to be 71.15%. Incomplete request forms accounted for 54.2% of sample rejections for biochemical samples, while mislabelled blood samples accounted for 35.1% of sample rejections for complete blood counts.
Conclusion: According to the study findings, it has shown that relevant healthcare workers should pay more attention to patient investigations relevant to blood samples to provide appropriate patient management with minimal errors in investigation reports.