Improved Performance of Plasma Gonadotrophin Assays Using Common Reagents and Assay Protocols: Evidence from the UK External Quality Assessment Scheme

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Abstract
Radioimmunoassay kits prepared in the Chelsea Hospital for Women for follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH) have been used in 26 UK laboratories for over 2 years. Data from the UK External Quality Assessment Schemes for FSH and LH have been used to provide an independent assessment of the performance of these kits over a 12-month period. For both analytes, users of the kits were found to have: a low variability of the bias, implying good within-laboratory, between-assay precision; a lower between-laboratory, within-sample geometric coefficient of variation than users of ‘own’ methods, implying better between-laboratory agreement; method bias that did not differ significantly from laboratories using ‘own’ method protocols. This survey indicates that a non-commercial organisation can produce immunoassay kits that improve the quality of FSH and LH assays generally available.

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