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- Title
Red blood cell counts and indices in the elderly German population.
- Authors
Röhrig, Gabriele; Becker, Ingrid; Gutensohn, Kai; Nebe, Thomas
- Abstract
Background: Data on peripheral blood cell values in older subjects are rare. While hemoglobin (Hb) values are supposed to change with rising age, little is known about reference values for other erythrocytic blood cell counts. This cross-sectional study was initiated to analyze hematologic laboratory parameters among subjects aged ≥60 years. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of outpatient laboratory data between January 1st and December 31st, 2015 originating from a German countrywide laboratory group; inclusion criteria: age ≥60 years, normal C-reactive protein (CRP), transferrin saturation, reticulocytes, lactate dehydrogenase, haptoglobin and soluble transferrin receptor; exclusion criteria: glomerular filtration rate (GFR)<60 mL/min, lack of inclusion criteria; primary objective: assessment of the mean Hb value; secondary objective: assessment of mean values of red blood cell (RBC) counts. Results: Of 30,611 subjects ≥60 years, 4641 met the inclusion criteria and were thus considered hematologically healthy; the following age groups were formed: 60–69 years (2094), 70–79 years (2171), 80–89 years (360), >90 years (16); median values for male/female subjects were: Hb 15.2/14.0 g/dL, RBC 5.0/4.6/μL, mean cellular volume (MCV) 89/89/fl, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) 31/30 pg/RBC, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) 34/34 g/dL, hematocrit (hct) 44/41%. Statistical evaluation revealed a slight but significant decrease in values over age decades for all parameters except for MCH. However, all values remained within the recommended German Society of Hematology and Oncology (DGHO) reference ranges. Hb values remained above the recommended World Health Organization (WHO) cut-offs for definition of anemia. Conclusions: The results confirm the WHO reference values and are in accordance with the recommended DGHO reference values and previous results of other study cohorts outside Germany. There seems to be no need for establishing age-specific RBC or erythrocytic reference ranges for subjects >60 years.
- Subjects
GERMANY; ERYTHROCYTES; ANEMIA; BLOOD testing; BLOOD proteins; C-reactive protein; GLOBULINS; GLOMERULAR filtration rate; HEMATOCRIT; HEMATOLOGY; HEMOGLOBINS; LACTATE dehydrogenase; RETICULOCYTES; TRANSFERRIN; WORLD Health Organization; CROSS-sectional method; RETROSPECTIVE studies
- Publication
Journal of Laboratory Medicine, 2018, Vol 42, Issue 4, p131
- ISSN
2567-9430
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1515/labmed-2017-0080