Abstract

Calculation of reference intervals (RI) for each quantitative test for the population served is mandatory in clinical care. Standard method of calculation of RI is costly and tedious. Literature show success in using patient data in calculating RI for some tests but, those related to complete blood count (CBC) are sparse. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the applicability of stored patient data of CBC in calculating RI as a less costly and reliable method. A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed using a large database of CBC reports of adults (18–60 years) in a hospital laboratory. Data were grouped in to patients and routine health checkup category and then partitioned according to gender. Data were refined using clinically relevant criteria and statistical tools to harness reference data sets for each parameter. RI were calculated using standard statistical methods. Obtained values were compared with those in the literature and of the manufacturer. All data sets showed Gaussian distribution. The RI calculated using patient data showed no clinically significant differences when compared with those of the healthy subjects, manufacturer and literature. When appropriate selection criteria and statistical tools are applied, large patient databases can be used to calculate RI for CBC parameters.

摘要

在临床护理中，必须为所服务的人群计算每次定量测试的参考区间 (RI)。计算 RI 的标准方法既昂贵又乏味。文献显示成功使用患者数据计算某些测试的 RI，但与全血细胞计数 (CBC) 相关的数据很少。因此，本研究旨在评估存储的 CBC 患者数据在计算 RI 时作为一种成本较低且可靠的方法的适用性。使用医院实验室中成人（18-60 岁）的 CBC 报告的大型数据库进行了一项回顾性横断面研究。数据分为患者和常规健康检查类别，然后根据性别进行划分。使用临床相关标准和统计工具对数据进行细化，以利用每个参数的参考数据集。使用标准统计方法计算 RI。将获得的值与文献中的值和制造商的值进行比较。所有数据集均呈高斯分布。与健康受试者、制造商和文献相比，使用患者数据计算的 RI 没有临床显着差异。当应用适当的选择标准和统计工具时，可以使用大型患者数据库来计算 CBC 参数的 RI。