Accuracy of a User‐Friendly Centrifuge for Measuring Creamatocrits on Mothers’ Milk in the Clinical and Field Settings

• Published in: The FASEB journal 2006-03, Vol.20 (5), p.LB97-LB97
• Main Authors: Meier, Paula P, Engstrom, Janet L, Zuleger, Joyce L, Motykowski, Judy E, Vasan, Ushanalini, Meier, Werner A, Hartmann, Peter E, Williams, Tracy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0892-6638; 1530-6860
• DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.LB97-c

The Creamatocrit Plus weighs 2 pounds, spins in 3 minutes, is noiseless, and has an embedded digital reader to calculate the creamatocrit (CRCT) value, making it ideal for measuring lipid and calories on mothers’ milk in the clinical or field setting. This study compared the intra‐ and interuser reliability, absolute CRCT values, and predictive accuracy of the Creamatocrit Plus with two standard techniques for performing CRCTs: the laboratory centrifuge with a hematocrit reader and the laboratory centrifuge with digital calipers. Twelve women each provided foremilk, hindmilk, and composite milk (total = 36 specimens) >7 days post‐birth. For each specimen, 2 investigators performed 6 CRCTs: 2 each using the Creamatocrit Plus, the laboratory centrifuge with hematocrit reader, and the laboratory centrifuge with digital calipers. Investigators were blinded to each other's measures, and biochemists performing laboratory measures of lipid and calories were blinded to CRCT values. Intra‐ and inter‐user reliability and absolute CRCT measures were statistically similar for the three CRCT techniques. CRCTs obtained using the Creamatocrit Plus were highly correlated with laboratory measures of lipid (r = .95) and calories (r = .94). We conclude that the Creamatocrit Plus is comparable to standard CRCT techniques with respect to intra‐ and inter‐user reliability, equivalence of CRCT measures, and predictive accuracy.