Which of the following groups of patients should not be included in establishing moving averages using red cell indices?

a. Chemotherapy patients
b. Female patients
c. Obstetric patients
d. Surgical patients

ANS: B
Chemotherapeutic drugs often interfere with DNA metabolism, and this affects the mean cell volume (MCV) and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH), two of the red cell indices used in the moving averages determination. These patients thus should not be used when setting up this method as a quality control tool. It is also true that, when using moving averages as part of a quality control program, an out of control situation often occurs when a group of 20 patients includes primarily oncology patients.