Comparative Study Of Blood Delay Time Variations On The Results Of Blood Sedimentation Rate (Esr) Using The Westergren Method

Abstract

Since BPJS Kesehatan was enacted in 2014, there has been a significant increase in the number of patients, so it is important to understand the factors that affect laboratory test results, such as Blood Sediment Rate (LED). This study aimed to compare the LED values in blood samples that were examined immediately and delayed by 4 hours, using the Westergren method. Initially, a decrease in erythrocyte counts was observed in samples left at room temperature for 2 and 3 hours, although not significant.

This research was carried out at the Hematology Laboratory, Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Poltekkes of the Ministry of Health, East Kalimantan, using 70 blood samples containing 3.8% sodium citrate anticoagulant. Data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test  and the Paired Sample t-Test. The results showed that the average value of the LEDs for immediate inspection was 15 mm/h and 14 mm/h for a 4-hour delay. The paired t-test showed no significant difference between the two time variations. Thus, this study concluded that the delay of LED examinations of up to 4 hours did not significantly affect the accuracy of the results, a crucial thing considering the high volume of BPJS patients.