Background: In the north central Nigeria, observed haemoglobin concentration is often
used to determine the packed cell volume of patients, especially by many laboratories
that cannot afford the cost of micro-haematocrit centrifuge.
Aim: The study was carried out to determine the accuracy of 3-fold haemoglobin
conversion to haematocrit level in anaemic conditions.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 580 symptomatic (febrile)
patients and 810 subclinically anaemic subjects attending some selected private medical
laboratories, hospitals and clinics in Kuje Area Council of Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
Abuja, Nigeria. Calculated haemotocrit was obtained by multiplying observed
haemoglobin concentration by three while the observed haemoglobin was determined by
colorimetric technique using Drabkin solution. Observed haematocrit was determined by
using microhaematocrit technique. Mean observed and mean calculated haematocrit
were statistically analyzed by students’ T-Test and findings compared.
Original Research Article
British Journal of Medicine & Medical Research, 4(23): 4044-4049, 2014
4045
Results: Findings revealed a significant bias for higher degree of anaemia when 3-fold
haemoglobin (calculated haematocrit) was employed than when observed haematocrit
was used to determine anaemia in children within 1-10 years of age (T=2.1630, P<0.05).
Also, this study showed a significant difference between mean calculated haematocrit
and mean observed haematocrit in post-haemorrhagic conditions (T=3.0151, P<0.05).
Conclusion: Use of direct haemoglobin estimation and derived haematocrit is
advocated to diagnose anaemia in children and post-haemorrhagic conditions. Side
laboratories are advised to enroll into proficiency testing programmes to monitor
accuracy of their assay results.