Determine Complete Blood Count Reference Values Among Healthy Adult Populations.

BACKGROUND

Complete blood counts (CBC) are commonly used in diagnostic medicine to evaluate normal and abnormal hematological status. Furthermore, reference values (RVs) of CBC supplied by researchers are the most reliable means of the judgment-making stage and can aid interpretation and accurate diagnosis of diseases. Reference values vary between peoples because of differences in lifestyle, dietary habits, ethnicity and environment. Moreover, the Clinical and International Standards Institute (CISI) advises determining the RVs for each area. There are no RVs for CBC in Yemen. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the common RVs of CBC for healthy adults in Ibb City in the middle of Yemen.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1, to November 30, 2023. Of the 623 adults who participated in this study, 433 (aged 18-80 years) were included in the final analysis after applying exclusion criteria. The mean, median, and 95 percentile RVs (2.5-97.5 percentiles) were calculated for gender, age, and residence by the GraphPad Prism 8.0.1.

RESULTS

The RVs of hemoglobin (Hb) 11.16-17.54g/dl, red blood cells (RBC) 3.890-6.340×10/l, hematocrit (HCT) 33.03-49.30%), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) 72.83-94.55fl), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) 23.95-33.55pg, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) 32.97-36.7354g/dl, platelet (PLT) count 140.0-418.6×10/l, total white blood cells (WBC) 2.810-8.797 ×10/l and WBC differential count (basophils 0.000-1.000%, neutrophils 30.10-69.17%, eosinophils 1.500-5.000%, lymphocytes 23.86-63.45% and monocytes1.873-5.600%). Significantly higher median values were observed in males compared to females for Hb (<0.0001), RBC (<0.0001), HCT (<0.0001), lymphocyte (=0.0197) and monocytes (=0.0009). Contrariwise, females demonstrated significantly higher neutrophils (=0.0009), eosinophils (=0.0020), basophils (<0.0001) and platelets (=0.0324) than males. This study showed differences in the RVs of CBC compared to those reported in other countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

CONCLUSION

In this study, the reference values of CBC are considered as a benchmark that may assist in accurately judging laboratory results and enhancing medical and clinical services for adults in Ibb City, Yemen.