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Specimen Integrity

Meaning

Specimen integrity refers to the state of an anatomical or biological sample, such as blood, saliva, or urine, remaining unaltered and suitable for accurate clinical analysis from the point of collection until testing is complete. Maintaining integrity is paramount in hormonal health testing, as improper handling, storage, or transport can lead to degradation of labile hormones or analytes, yielding inaccurate and clinically misleading results. A high degree of specimen integrity ensures that the laboratory results reliably reflect the patient’s true physiological status at the time of collection.