{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T06:07:08Z","timestamp":1789020428264,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788998400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Pre-analytical errors account for 60\u201370% of total laboratory errors, with vacuum blood collection tube quality being a key contributor. Southwest China\u2019s complex terrain (plain\/plateau areas) and demand for inter-hospital test result mutual recognition highlight the need for region-specific performance data.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This multicenter real-world study evaluated 10 blood collection tube brands across 10 hospitals (plain\/plateau areas) in Sichuan-Chongqing. Nine physical performance indicators (appearance, tube strength, fill volume, stopper shedding, hemolysis, fibrin adhesion, separation gel integrity, anticoagulation efficacy, and tube-body integrity) were verified against BD tubes, following CLSI GP34-A2 and WS\/T 224\u20132018, with additional clinical consistency analyses for hematological, coagulation, and biochemical parameters. Statistical analysis included linear regression (\n                      <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      ) and relative\/comparison bias.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Widespread performance deficiencies were observed. At the hospital level, fill-volume non-compliance affected 78.3% (7\/9) of plain-area hospitals, while at the tube-batch level, 20.0% (1\/5) of batches failed at the single plateau site. For stopper shedding, 83.3% (25\/30) of tube batches across all sites exceeded the acceptable threshold, corresponding to 80% (8\/10) of hospitals having at least one non-compliant tube type. Tube appearance, structural strength, and separation gel integrity were universally compliant across all sites.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Southwest China\u2019s routinely used vacuum blood collection tubes exhibit critical performance gaps, particularly in fill-volume accuracy and stopper integrity. Routine verification of high-risk indicators, site-adaptive batch-specific verification for high-altitude facilities, and manufacturing improvements (e.g., stopper material optimization) are recommended. This study provides quality benchmarks for regional test result mutual recognition and pre-analytical quality improvement.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1895353","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T05:33:28Z","timestamp":1789018408000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Performance evaluation of vacuum blood collection tubes in multicenter clinical laboratories: a real-world study from Southwest China"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Changrui","family":"Sun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People\u2019s Hospital","place":["Chengdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chunbao","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People\u2019s Hospital","place":["Chengdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuelong","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second People\u2019s Hospital of Yibin\u00b7West China Yibin Hospital, Sichuan University","place":["Yibin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Li","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Laboratory, Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Panzhihua","place":["Panzhihua, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jian","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory, Dazhou Central Hospital","place":["Dazhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Ren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hospital Laboratory, Guangyuan Central Hospital","place":["Guangyuan, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dan","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Guanghan People's Hospital","place":["Deyang, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Juan","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, People's Hospital of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture","place":["Kangding, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zaixiang","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Laboratory, Qianjiang District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Chongqing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huan","family":"Ding","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Laboratory, Zhongxian People's Hospital of Chongqing","place":["Chongqing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lan","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Laboratory, Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Panzhihua","place":["Panzhihua, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bing","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanchong Central Hospital","place":["Nanchong, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yi","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People\u2019s 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