{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.016776512881965248, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0035949670461354103, 'mean_word_length': 5.706827309236948, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Quality Assurance of Hormone Analyses

In the 1960's and 70's the measurement of hormones in biological fluids was chiefly carried out in specialised endocrine research laboratories using the newly developed and relatively complex technique of radioimmunoassay (RIA). Many of these laboratories, subsequently, became Supraregional and Regional Assay Service laboratories. Their purpose was to provide technically complex or infrequently requested hormone assays for clinical purposes. Consequently, as the clinical usefulness of many of these assays was confirmed together with an increasing demand, a process was initiated whereby assays were devolved to district laboratories. This resulted in large numbers of laboratories with no previous experience in hormone assay performing relatively small numbers of analyses for an ever widening range of hormones. Predictably, there was a concomitant expansion in the commercial production of reagents and kits for hormone assays. The development of non-isotopic labels soon after, augmented this process, since laboratories no longer required facilities for the containment, handling, and disposal of radioactive isotopes. Few would criticise the clinical benefits of the greater availability of hormone assays. However, it has become obvious from the various UK National External Quality Assessment Schemes (NEQAS) that the analytical. performance and interlaboratory comparability of hormone measurements in the UK is worse than that for most of the other assays performed in clinical biochemistry laboratories. I This paper seeks to highlight some of the factors which may affect the quality assurance of hormone assays.