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Thromb Haemost 1995; 73(02): 256-260
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1653761
Original Article
Coagulation
Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart

ARIC[*] Hemostasis Study-IV. Intraindividual Variability and Reliability of Hemostatic Factors

Nghia D Nguyen
2   The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, TX, USA
,
Habib Ghaddar
1   The Division of Hematology and Vascular Biology Research Center, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, TX, USA
,
Valarie Stinson
1   The Division of Hematology and Vascular Biology Research Center, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, TX, USA
,
Lloyd E Chambless
3   The Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
,
Kenneth K Wu
1   The Division of Hematology and Vascular Biology Research Center, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, TX, USA
2   The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, TX, USA
,
for the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study Investigators › Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Received 14 September 1994

Accepted 28 October 1994

Publication Date:
09 July 2018 (online)

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Summary

We have recently reported the short-term intraindividual variability of several coagulation factors and inhibitors included in the ARIC study (Chambless et al. Ann Epidemiol 1992; 2:723). In this paper, we reported the intraindividual variability results of additional hemostatic factors. Blood samples were collected for hemostatic assays three times at 1-2-week intervals from 39 subjects recruited from 4 ARIC field centers. The contributions of within-person, processing and assay (designated “method”) and between-person variances to the total variance were estimated and from them the reliability coefficient, R, was computed as the proportion of total variance in the between-person component. The R value was high for (β-thromboglobulin and tissue- plasminogen activator: 0.83 and 0.81, respectively; and intermediate for D-dimer and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1: 0.73 and 0.72, respectively. Protein S (total and free) and platelet factor 4 had low repeatability (R<0.50) derived mostly from “method” variability while low R value (0.03) for fibrinopeptide A was attributed to high “method” and “within-person” variability. Gender, age and the level of hemostatic factors did not influence the intraindividual variability.

*ARIC is the acronym for the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. It is a prospective epidemiologic study involving four diverse U.S. Communities, Central Laboratories, and Coordinating Center. A major component of the ARIC study is to determine the association of hemostatic factors with atherosclerosis and its clinical sequela. This paper is the fourth in a series of papers pertaining to hemostasis studies.