Stability of fingerprick capillary blood and urine testing Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Stability of fingerprick capillary blood testing and home urine sampling for biochemical analysis
IRAS ID
292212
Contact name
Tricia Tan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
A study investigating the stability of finger-prick capillary blood samples and urine samples for biochemical testing.
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the delivery of healthcare services. Virtual clinics have largely replaced face-to-face consultations and phlebotomy, in most cases, have stopped offering a walk-in facility. Self-collection of capillary blood and urine samples at home can facilitate the monitoring of patients with chronic disease to support virtual clinics while mitigating the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission.
This study will investigate the stability of biochemical analytes in capillary blood and urine samples as part of routine care for patients. All samples will be tested to assess sample stability at different timepoints to simulate delay in testing that would be introduced by a patient providing a samples at home. In addition, capillary (finger prick) samples will be compared to venous results.
The aim of this project will be to develop a service that enables patients to self-collect capillary blood and urine at home to support and protect patients with chronic disease both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participants who are having a routine blood test as part of their routine care at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust will be asked to provide a finger prick blood sample at the same time. We may ask them to provide a urine sample. Members of staff at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust will be invited to provide a urine sample and/or capillary blood sample and will also have a concomitant venous blood collection of up to a maximum of 20ml (4 teaspoons) of blood. The study will take place at Imperial College Healthcare NHS trust. However, in some instances, participants may do their finger prick samples at home.
The study will be funded by North West London Pathology as part of Service Development.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/EM/0073
Date of REC Opinion
17 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion