Relative reference values for clinical chemical and haematological quantities in 'healthy' elderly people.

A search of the literature revealed a paucity of data on reference values for clinical chemical and haematological quantities in reasonably 'healthy' ambulant persons above 65 years of age. On the basis of 90 papers, concerning 37 different types of quantities, the median values for men and for women at 30, 50, 65, and 80 years are calculated relative to the value in men at 30 years. This transformation reduces influences of analytical and demographic factors that have caused considerable systematic differences in the original data. The reference distribution is described as regards symmetry and the change in dispersion with age. The results are given in a table and show four types of changes with age: no significant variation, a fall, an increase or a maximum somewhere between 30 and 80 years; the type of change often depends on sex.