CORRELATION BETWEEN SERUM ALBUMIN LEVEL AND PACKED CELL VOLUME IN NEWLY DIAGNOSED PATIENTS WITH PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN BAUCHI, NORTH-EASTERN, NIGERIA.

INTRODUCTION

Though some studies showed biochemical and haematologic derangements in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), but information with regards to the correlation between serum albumin and packed cell volume (PCV) is scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between serum albumin level and PCV in newly diagnosed patients with PTB at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi, Northeastern Nigeria.

METHODOLOGY

This was a cross-sectional study of consecutive newly diagnosed patients with PTB who were Sputum smear-positive as determined by Gene Expert/Rif MTB machine and HIV-negative by 'Determine' test, that were recruited from the medical outpatient department (MOPD) and directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) clinic of ATBUTH, Bauchi. The study was conducted between 2019-2022. Three milliliters of blood sample was analyzed at ATBUTH laboratory for serum albumin and PCV. Extracted data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23.0 software.

RESULT

There were 61 patients studied comprising 46 (75.4%) males and 15 (24.6%) females with male to female ratio of 3:1. Their ages range from 14-64 years old. The mean age ± standard deviation (SD) of the patients was 32.21 ± 13.67 years. The mean ± SD of serum albumin and PCV were 2.99 ± 0.55 g/dl, 33.42 ± 5.66 % respectively. Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient (r) was +0.475, p = 0.000 which was statistically significant at the 0.01 level suggesting a positive correlation between serum albumin and PCV.

CONCLUSION

There was a significant correlation between serum albumin level and PCV in the patients studied.