University Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands, University of La Laguna, Astrofisico Francisco Sanchez s/n, 38207 Tenerife, Spain.
Malar J. 2013 Dec 1;12:435. doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-12-435.
Knowledge of appropriate reference intervals is critical not only to provide optimal clinical care, but also to enrol populations in medical research. The aim of this study was to generate normal ranges of laboratory values for haemoglobin among healthy Ethiopian adults and children and to determine if anaemia is a possible indicator of malaria in women and children in this area of Ethiopia.
This study was carried out from January 2008 to May 2010. The reference sample population with malaria-negative consisted of 454 individuals, divided women, men and children. The malaria-infected sample population consisted of 117 individuals. The reference ranges were based on the guidelines from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Haemoglobin concentration was determined by Hemo-Control EKF Diagnostic Analyser on whole blood. Testing for malaria-positive and negative infection was done by microscopy and by PCR.
The lower limits for adult haemoglobin range obtained from this population were slightly higher than those derived from other African populations, but were equal to those established by other studies in Ethiopia and the World Health Organization (WHO). Regarding children, the minimum values were lower than those obtained from different African populations and those established by WHO. The malaria-negative group had anaemia in 35.6% of cases and in the malaria-positive group in 70.9%. There was a stronger, statistically significant association between anaemia and malaria-positive samples than between anaemia and malaria-negative samples in women and both groups of children.
The results from this study are a contribution in the definition of the haemoglobin parameters in African populations, which could be taken as standards for interpretation of laboratory results. The haemoglobin indices in adults from Gambo tended to be higher than other African populations and in children were lower than other studies in Africa. The results also suggest that anaemia is not useful as a supportive diagnostic criterion to monitor and evaluate malaria in women and children from Ethiopia, because a 29.1% of malaria cases will be not detected, because of not having anaemia.
了解适当的参考区间不仅对提供最佳临床护理至关重要，而且对将人群纳入医学研究也至关重要。本研究的目的是生成健康埃塞俄比亚成年人和儿童血红蛋白的正常范围，并确定在该地区的妇女和儿童中贫血是否可能是疟疾的一个指标。
这项研究是在 2008 年 1 月至 2010 年 5 月进行的。参考样本人群中疟疾阴性组由 454 人组成，分为女性、男性和儿童。疟疾感染样本人群由 117 人组成。参考范围是基于临床和实验室标准协会的指南。血红蛋白浓度通过全血上的 Hemo-Control EKF 诊断分析仪确定。疟疾阳性和阴性感染的检测通过显微镜和 PCR 进行。
从该人群获得的成人血红蛋白范围下限略高于其他非洲人群，但与其他在埃塞俄比亚和世界卫生组织（WHO）进行的研究中建立的范围相等。关于儿童，最低值低于不同非洲人群和 WHO 建立的最低值。在疟疾阴性组中，有 35.6%的病例贫血，在疟疾阳性组中，有 70.9%的病例贫血。在妇女和两组儿童中，贫血与疟疾阳性样本之间的关联比贫血与疟疾阴性样本之间的关联更强，具有统计学意义。
本研究的结果为定义非洲人群中的血红蛋白参数做出了贡献，可以作为解释实验室结果的标准。甘博成年人的血红蛋白指数高于其他非洲人群，而儿童的血红蛋白指数低于非洲其他研究。结果还表明，贫血不能作为监测和评估埃塞俄比亚妇女和儿童疟疾的辅助诊断标准，因为 29.1%的疟疾病例将因没有贫血而无法检测到。
