Table 4. “Proposed reasons for long TAT” and the upper quartile of TAT for “labelling”, “transportation to work area” and “analysis” phases.
| ≤ 75th percentile TAT | > 75th percentile TAT | Total | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
I. Sample labelling | ||||
| Work shift | ||||
| Regular hours | 24 | 2 | 26 | 0.012 |
| Evening hours | 4 | 4 | 8 | |
| Night hours |
17 |
9 |
26 |
|
|
II. Transportation to work area | ||||
| Work Shift | ||||
| Regular hours* | 17 | 8 | 25 | 0.369 |
| Evening hours* | 5 | 2 | 7 | |
| Night hours | 22 | 4 | 26 | |
| Shared CSF sample | ||||
| Shared sample* | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.001 |
| No shared sample *† |
38 |
10 |
48 |
|
|
III. Analysis phase | ||||
| Work shift | ||||
| Regular hours* | 19 | 6 | 25 | 1.000 |
| Evening hours* | 5 | 2 | 7 | |
| Night hours | 20 | 6 | 26 | |
| Repeat testing | ||||
| Repeat testing* | 19 | 6 | 25 | 1.000 |
| No repeat testing* |
25 |
8 |
33 |
|
| *one of the two missing data for time of receipt at work station which affected computing of TAT for transport to work area and Analysis phases (see Table 2). † Seven requests missing record of number of tubes. TAT – turnaround time. P < 0.05 considered statistically significant. | ||||