Comparison between an Emerging Point-of-Care Tool for TSH Evaluation and a Centralized Laboratory-Based Method in a Cohort of Patients from Southern Italy

Endocrine and metabolic disorders are a common condition in Europe and worldwide, and, among these, thyroid dysfunction still remains a problem. The measurement of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels represents the first-line assay for the assessment of thyroid function. In the present study, we compared serum concentrations of TSH, measured using a commercially available point-of-care test (POCT) method (FastPack (R) IP) and an established conventional laboratory-based method (Beckmann Access 2) in a cohort of patients from Foggia in Southern Italy. A strong correlation (r = 0.994) was found between both methods and was also confirmed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis (0.82). The within-run coefficient of variation (CV) using FastPack (R) ranged from 4.03% and 8.57% at the TSH concentrations of 39.49 and 0.70 mIU/L, respectively. The between-run CV was 10.34% and 6.33% at the TSH concentrations of 0.87 and 26.55 mIU/L, respectively. The ratios of within- to between-assay CV were 0.83 and 1.06 at the TSH levels of 0.70 and 52.59 mIU/mL, respectively. In this study, we showed that serum TSH levels can be measured in a few minutes and at low-cost in terms of materials and equipment required. We observed that this approach is user-friendly, accurate, reproducible, and suitable for use in the clinic, while also meeting the criteria for effectiveness, impact, efficiency, and sustainability.

Automated summary

The study compared two methods for measuring serum TSH levels, finding a strong correlation and meeting clinical standards. It was found that using the FastPack (R) IP method allows for quick, accurate, and reproducible measurement of TSH levels.