On April 22, members of the Partnership for the Accurate Testing of Hormones (PATH) met at the Endocrine Society headquarters in Washington D.C. to develop strategies to standardize hormone tests and raise awareness among physicians of the poor quality and incommutability of the tests they order.
PATH seeks to improve patient care and public health through universal use of accurate and reliable hormone tests in healthcare and research. Its ultimate goal is to advance the development of standardized hormone assays and advocate for the universal adoption of these assays in medical practice and research.
“Inaccurate tests can lead to misdiagnoses and this is happening every day on a global scale,” says Alvin M. Matsumoto, MD, FACP, associate director of the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and professor of medicine at the University of Washington, and co-chair of PATH. “Whether it’s testosterone, estradiol, or vitamin D, unreliable hormone tests are a threat to patients whose medical care depends upon accurate measurement.”
The meeting brought together the partnership’s many members, including the Endocrine Society and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to crystallize goals and tactics to not only standardize hormone tests and harmonize reference ranges in clinical care and diagnosis, but to communicate the importance of standardized tests to public health to physicians, policymakers, and the public.
“We know there are cases where individuals might be deemed deficient or sufficient in a certain hormone like vitamin D depending on the laboratory where the blood is tested,” Matsumoto says. “These problems are caused mainly by inaccurate and unreliable tests. Standardized hormone tests are essential and we are working to educate physicians about this issue and encourage policymakers to ensure universal use of standardized tests.”
Aside from the Society and the CDC, other PATH members include American Association for Clinical Chemistry, American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, American Urological Association, Androgen Excess/PCOS Society, Association of Public Health Laboratories, College of American Pathologists, International Society of Andrology, LabCorp, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Reproductive Sciences Branch), North American Menopause Society, Pediatric Endocrine Society, and Quest Diagnostics.
For more information, go to www.hormoneassays.org
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