Calculated Haematocrit Gave a Better Prediction of Anaemia than Observed Haematocrit in Patients with Haemorrhage and under Aged Children in Central Nigeria

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.
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.