Usually doctors make an accurate diagnosis and decide what will be the treatment based on laboratory test results. Much attention is given to laboratory work, the quality of laboratory testing; however, we should also not forget the patient preparation for laboratory testing. Inappropriate pa tient preparation may influence the results.
The aim was to evaluate the preparation for laboratory tests of patients sent by general practitioners (complete blood count, blood glucose, lipids).
Subjects and Methods. 95 patients were interviewed in the clinical laboratory of the Diagnostic Center of the Public Institution Centro Outpatient Clinic.
Results. 16 of 95 (16.8%) patients were prepared for the laboratory tests perfectly. 3.1% had eaten before the laboratory tests, 9.5% had drunk tea or coffee (some of them with sugar, honey or saccharin). 20% of the interviewed patients had been drinking more or less alcohol during the last two days. 2 of them came to give blood for the analysis after some heavy drinking. During the last twelve hours betore the test 8.4% of the respondents had smoked 1 to 5 cigarettes. Most of them had smoked their last cigarette an hour and a half before the laboratory tests. 56.8% of the respondents had been taking medicine or supplements during the day before the laboratory tests. Some patients could not tell what medication they had taken exactly. Before the laboratory tests some medical procedures had been performed on 10.5% of all the interviewed patients (ultrasound, X-ray examination, electrocardiography, densitometry). 15.8% of the interviewed people indicated that they had been feeling stressed before the laboratory testing.
