Table 3.

Prevalence of specific reference reader comments regarding the quality of individual slides read, n = 911

Comments	Number	Percent
Thick smear red blood cells not lysed or under-lysed	26	2.85%
Artifact or debris present	15	1.65%
Stain deposit present	13	1.43%
Understained slide	12	1.32%
Fungal, bacterial or yeast elements present	6	0.66%
Poor thick smear (unqualified)	4	0.44%
Faint or poor stippling	4	0.44%
Poor mount or cover slip broken	3	0.33%
Overstained slide	2	0.22%
Poor stain (unqualified)	2	0.22%
Poor slide (unqualified)	2	0.22%
Slide not readable	1	0.11%
Dirty prep	1	0.11%