Accurate Reference Intervals are Required for Accurate Diagnosis and Monitoring of Patients

Patients’ blood test results are different from one another hence Physicians need a reference measure that they can compare to in order to make the correct clinical decisions. These reference measures, obtained from a sample group in the healthy population, are the “normal ranges” for a specific measure. However normal ranges need to be established only for healthy individuals but also for specific physiologic conditions like pregnancy or ovulation or menopause and some pathologic conditions. The term “normal range” does not cover these conditions. Hence the term “normal range” was given up for the more appropriate term “reference interval”.