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Revista Cubana de Higiene y Epidemiología

On-line version ISSN 1561-3003

Abstract

MENOCAL HEREDIA, Lenina Tamara et al. Prevalence of parasitism and quality control in the diagnosis of intestinal parasitoses at 15 Havana polyclinics. Rev Cubana Hig Epidemiol [online]. 2013, vol.51, n.3, pp.278-288. ISSN 1561-3003.

Introduction: quality control in the diagnosis of intestinal parasitoses is a very important public health procedure. However, it is not as well known as it is in other branches of clinical laboratory diagnosis, and has only been incorporated in recent years. Objectives: Evaluate the quality of parasitological diagnosis in four Havana municipalities. Methods: the study was conducted at 15 polyclinics from the municipalities of La Lisa, Arroyo Naranjo, Habana del Este and Cerro, in the province of Havana, from March 2011 to May 2012. The study universe was composed of 747 stool samples analyzed in laboratories of the aforementioned polyclinics. The kappa coefficient was estimated for two observers and two categories, in order to determine the degree of agreement between observers. Results: only in one polyclinic was there an almost perfect degree of agreement in parasitological diagnosis (a kappa concordance coefficient of 0.90, p < 0,05). Conclusions: it was possible to establish the concordance in parasitological diagnosis. Only in one case was quality satisfactory. The main diagnostic errors corresponded to Ascaris lumbricoides and Blastocystis spp. Based on these results, permanent improvement is recommended in the training of the personnel performing these tests.

Keywords : parasites; quality control; diagnostic error; primary health care.

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