Table 2. Factors influencing the performance of laboratoriesa.
| Possible technical influence factors | No. of laboratories | Positive influence on sensitivity p value |
|---|---|---|
| Qiagen viral RNA extraction kit | 38 | 0.9 |
| Roche MagnaPure/HighPure extraction kit | 7 | 0.2 |
| Silica particle-based extraction method (Boom) | 9 | 0.9 |
| Primers originally developed in own laboratory | 16 | 0.5 |
| Any nested PCR assay | 25 | 0.9 |
| Any real-time PCR assay | 37 | 0.7 |
| Any commercial test kit | 14 | 0.03 |
aAnalysis of Variance (ANOVA) by factor, eliminating the influence of other factors; PCR, polymerase chain reaction.