Abstract
A program utilizing three methods of normal range estimation for radioassay is described. The methods are chosen for their variable dependence upon test sample characteristics such as size of population sampled, skewing, and spread of values T3 uptake, T4 CPB, TSH, B12, and folate normal specimens are screened using the standard deviation, data point ranking, and percentile interpolation methods. While three of the five test populations are normally distributed, two are best evaluated by methods other than the standard deviation. The folate test population is positively skewed and the data point ranking method provides the most valid estimate. The test population for the B12 assay is small (32) and the spread between values large; therefore, the percentile interpolation method provides the most valid normal range estimate.
Footnotes
↵* Presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Technologist Section, June 1976, Dallas, TX.
