Intervals are specific to the reporting laboratory, method and population.
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Evidence record
A laboratory reference interval describes the central range of results seen in that laboratory's reference population on that method. A result outside it is a signal to look further, not a diagnosis, and a result inside it does not establish health.
Claim clm-lab-reference-interval-meaning, version 1.0.0. Reviewed 2026-07-30.
Evidence maturityEstablished for a defined use
Established for a defined useCanine surrogate evidence
MethodologyWhat this evidence classification meansSeveral consistent and directly relevant sources point the same way, or a well-supported professional standard exists.
- Definition
- Several consistent and directly relevant sources point the same way, or a well-supported professional standard exists.
- What it does not mean
- It does not mean certain, universally applicable, or free of important limitations.
Plain English
What this means in practice.
The owner-facing conclusion comes before the study taxonomy.
Read a result against the interval printed on the same report, and treat a result outside it as a reason to ask a question rather than as an answer.
What remains uncertain: The interval says nothing about how important a given distance outside it is for a particular dog.
Synthesis syn-lab-reference-interval-meaning, version 1.0.0.
Structured record
What was actually studied.
Population, comparator, outcome, direction, and consistency remain separate so the claim cannot become broader than its evidence.
- Population
- Laboratory results reported for individual dogs
- Factor or intervention
- Comparing a reported value with the reporting laboratory's reference interval
- Comparator
- Treating the interval as a health threshold
- Outcome
- Correct interpretation of a single laboratory value
- Direction
- not_applicable
- Consistency
- consistent
- Magnitude
- Reference intervals are constructed from a reference population, so some healthy individuals fall outside them by construction.
- Directness note
- A statement about how a reference interval is constructed and what it can support, not about any disease.
Uncertainty
Where the conclusion stops.
Limitations are part of the conclusion, not a disclaimer added after it.
This statement is definitional; it does not describe any particular analyte or condition.
0 sources
The source trail.
Supporting, challenging, and contextual records stay visibly distinct.
No source records are attached to this claim.
Inclusion is not endorsement. Commercial relationships must never determine Nara’s conclusions.