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Quality Control in Planning and Operating the Laboratory Component for the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey^1,2,

Elaine W. Gunter^*,3 and Geraldine McQuillan

^* Division of Environmental Health Laboratory Sciences, Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control Division of Health Examination Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA 30333

Successfully acquiring high-quality laboratory data for a long-term nutrition survey such as the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) requires rigorous quality-control procedures throughout the entire design and implementation of the laboratory component. We discuss selection of nutritional biochemistry analyses, proper specimen collection, and the critical need for continuity of protocol during the entire survey. The NHANES III laboratory procedures are described, including specimen collection, processing, shipment to laboratories, and analyses.

KEY WORDS: • specimen collection • sample handling • sample storage • laboratory analysis • quality control

¹ Presented as part of a conference, "Nutrition Monitoring and Nutrition Status Assessment", at the first fall meeting of the American Institute of Nutrition, Charleston, South Carolina, December 8–10, 1989. The conference was supported in part by cooperative agreement HPU880004-02-1 with the DHHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the USDA Human Nutrition Information Service, the DHHS National Center for Health Statistics, and the International Life Sciences Institute-Nutrition Foundation.

² The Planning Committee for the meeting consisted of Drs. Helen A. Guthrie, Roy J. Martin, Linda D. Meyers, James A. Olson, Catherine E. Woteki, and Richard G. Allison (ex officio). The symposium papers were edited by a committee consisting of Dr. James Allen Olson (coordinator), Dept. of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA; Dr. Cathy C. Campbell, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Dr. Roy J. Martin, Dept. of Foods & Nutrition, University of Georgia, Athens, GA; and Dr. Catherine E. Woteki, Food & Nutrition Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.

Use of trade names is for identification only and does not constitute endorsement by the Public Health Service or the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.

³ Address for correspondence: Nutritional Biochemistry Branch, Bldg. C17, Room 2814 F18, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333.

Manuscript received 10 December 1989. Revision accepted 11 July 1990.