The incidence rate and influence factors of hemolysis, lipemia, icterus in fasting serum biochemistry specimens

OBJECTIVE: Hemolysis, icterus, and lipemia (HIL) of blood samples have been a concern in hospitals because they reflect pre-analytical processes’ quality control. However, very few studies investigate the influence of patients’ gender, age, and department, as well as sample-related turnaround time, on the incidence rate of HIL in fasting serum biochemistry specimens. METHODS: A retrospective, descriptive study was conducted to investigate the incidence rate of HIL based on the HIL index in 501,612 fasting serum biochemistry specimens from January 2017 to May 2018 in a tertiary university hospital with 4,200 beds in Sichuan, southwest China. A subgroup analysis was conducted to evaluate the differences in the HIL incidence rate by gender, age and department of patients, and turnaround time of specimens. RESULTS: The incidence rate of hemolysis, lipemia and icterus was 384, 53, and 612 per 10,000 specimens. The male patients had a significantly elevated incidence of hemolysis (4.13% vs. 3.54%), lipemia (0.67% vs. 0.38%), and icterus (6.95% vs. 5.43%) than female patients. Hemolysis, lipemia, and icterus incidence rate were significantly associated with the male sex with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.174 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.140–1.208], 1.757 (95%CI: 1.623–1.903), and 1.303 (95%CI: 1.273–1.333), respectively, (P<0.05). The hospitalized patients had a higher incidence of hemolysis (4.03% vs. 3.54%), lipemia (0.63% vs. 0.36%), and icterus (7.10% vs. 4.75%) than outpatients (P<0.001). Specimens with relatively longer transfer time and/or detection time had a higher HIL incidence (P<0.001). The Pediatrics had the highest incidence of hemolysis (16.2%) with an adjusted OR (AOR) of 4.93 (95%CI, 4.59–5.29, P<0.001). The Neonatology department had the highest icterus incidence (30.1%) with an AOR of 4.93 (95%CI: 4.59–5.29, P<0.001). The Neonatology department (2.32%) and Gastrointestinal Surgery (2.05%) had the highest lipemia incidence, with an AOR of 1.17 (95%CI: 0.91–1.51) and 4.76 (95%CI: 4.70–5.53), both P-value <0.001. There was an increasing tendency of hemolysis and icterus incidence for children under one year or adults aged more than 40. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of HIL incidence rate and HIL-related influence factors in fasting serum biochemistry specimens are impartment to interpret the results more accurately and provide better clinical services to patients.