Measurement Uncertainty Impacts Diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus: Reliable Minimal Difference of Plasma Glucose Results

Imprecision as measured by IQC data is remarkably stable over many years of operation. Current imprecision assessment usually focuses on only single instruments, whereas clinicians perceive the measurement as the result of the combined analytical performance of all instruments used for a certain assay. In the clinical setting, the MD may be a more useful measure of imprecision, and we suggest deriving the MD_cut-off combined from all instruments and control cycles that are used in the patient care setting for a given analyte.