A flag that does not match the result and its reference range
reference-flag-mismatchon by defaultJapanese / English
A lab result flagged high though within its range, or normal though outside it
Example
How to fix
Check the result and the reference range, and correct the flag or the mistyped number.
Why it matters
When a results table flags 5.2 "H" against a reference range of 4.0–5.6 %, or 18 "Normal" against 30–100 ng/mL, the reader trusts the flag and either misses the value that needs attention or worries about one that does not. It happens when the flags of last time's table are kept and only the values are updated, or a row's flag is pasted from its neighbour. The result, reference range and flag columns are found by their headings, and the result of each row is compared with the range on the same row. A range written with a range mark only ("4.0–5.6") includes both ends, since a reference range names the lowest and the highest value it counts as within it. "Or less", "or more", "≤" and "≥" keep their end; "below", "above", "<" and ">" do not.
What it does not flag
Only tables whose result, reference range and flag columns are each named by exactly one heading are read. A row whose result is not one number ("<0.5", "negative"), a row with no range, a range given separately for men and women, a row whose result and range are in different units (mmol/L against mg/dL), a range written high end first, and a flag chaff does not know (a grade A to E, "repeat test") are not reported: a grade follows the clinic's own criteria, not the reference range.
Turning it off or relaxing it
Technical details
- Layer
- L3
- Status
- stable
- Severity
- warning
- Languages
- Japanese and English
- Suited to
- business, technical, blog, legal, docs, academic, literature, speech
Levels
Set a level for this rule under rules in chaff.yaml. With nothing set, it runs at the level its genre gives it (see By genre below).
| strict | error |
|---|---|
| normal | warning |
| relaxed | info |
This rule has no limit to count to. A level sets how a finding is marked: relaxed keeps the finding and marks it a step lower.
By genre
- Runs by default in
- technical/spec, technical/readme, blog/tech, blog/essay, blog/owned-media, business/proposal, business/report, business/email, business/press-release, business/meeting-notes, legal/contract, legal/statute, legal/judgment, legal/patent, docs/manual, docs/faq, docs/glossary, academic/paper, speech/address, speech/transcript
- Turned off by the genre in
- literature/fiction, literature/essay, literature/poetry, literature/play
Message
"{item}" is {value}, within its reference range ({range}), but is flagged "{flag}"
"{item}" is {value}, outside its reference range ({range}), but is flagged "{flag}"
"{item}" is {value}, below its reference range ({range}), but is flagged "{flag}"
"{item}" is {value}, above its reference range ({range}), but is flagged "{flag}"
This page is built from the rule's definition file:packages/chaff/rules/reference-flag-mismatch.yaml