%0 Journal Article
%T Evaluation of the Completeness in the Filling of Laboratory Request Forms Submitted to the Haematology Laboratory at a Tertiary Hospital in Kenya
%A Japheth C. Kipkulei
%A Teresa C. Lotodo
%J Health
%P 862-868
%@ 1949-5005
%D 2019
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/health.2019.117069
%X Background information: The laboratory request form is a communication link between the clinicians and the laboratory staff. It contains demographic details of the patient including full names, age and gender; the test required; location of the patient; date and time of request among other details. Incomplete and inaccurate filling of the request forms may cause errors which can impact on the quality of the patient care. Methodology: The study was a descriptive cross sectional where 289 laboratory request forms submitted consecutively to the haematology laboratory during the month of January 2018 were evaluated. Data was collected using a data collection form and analyzed by use of frequency table. Ethical clearance was sought from Institutional Research and Ethical Committee of Moi University and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. Results: Of all the 289 forms evaluated, only 1% (3/289) had all the required information. The parameters with the most information were patientĄ¯s name (100%), hospital number (100%), sex (99.7%), age (98.3%), investigation requested (97.6%), the location of the patient (96.9%), clinicianĄ¯s name (96.9%) and signature (96.5%). The least information was recorded for clinical history (14.7%) and address of the patient (4.8%). Conclusion: The study showed that there were inadequacies in the recording of the required information in the laboratory request form. The parameters which were completely filled were the patientĄ¯s name and the hospital number, whereas the address and the clinical history had the least completion rates.
%K Laboratory
%K Request Forms
%K Required Information
%K Completion
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=93624