The acceptable hemoglobin control value range is 13.6 ± 0.4 g/dL. If the control is assayed five times with results 12.0, 12.3, 12.0, 12.2, and 12.1 g/dL, these results are?

To evaluate the results of the hemoglobin control assay, it is important to differentiate between accuracy and precision. Accuracy refers to how close a measurement is to the true or accepted value, while precision concerns how consistently the measurements can be repeated under the same conditions.

In this scenario, the acceptable hemoglobin control value range is 13.6 ± 0.4 g/dL, which indicates that the expected values would fall between 13.2 g/dL and 14.0 g/dL. The results obtained from the assays are 12.0, 12.3, 12.0, 12.2, and 12.1 g/dL. All these values are significantly lower than the acceptable range, suggesting that the results are consistently off from the true value, indicating a lack of accuracy.

On the other hand, the results have a relatively small range of variation among them, showing that they are consistently within a narrow interval, which reflects a degree of precision. Since they cluster closely together but fall below the acceptable range, the assessment reveals that while these results are precise, they are not accurate with respect to the established reference range.

In conclusion, the correct classification of the assay results is that they are precise (