Normal Reference Values of Blood Cell Countand Indices among Different Ages and Sexes of United Arab Emirates Population

Abstract

This study was conducted in United Arab Emirates (UAE) to establish native reference hematological ranges which include Red blood cells count and indices, White blood cells count and Platelets count) in the UAE population. The study was carried out on 365 apparently healthy participants, with ages ranging from 5 to 68 years; the subjects were divided into four groups depending on the age. A questionnaire was fulfilled by each subject and EDTA anti coagulant venous blood samples were collected from each subject and Hematological parameters (WBCs, RBCs, PCV, MCV, MCH, MCHC and Platelets) were estimated by using automated hematological analyzer (Sysmex) and a blood film was done for each.The mean and standard deviation of each parameter was calculated for each age group. The final results showed that WBCs count remained more or less similar among the different age groups and the difference between males and females was not significant (p>0.05). The RBCs count shows a slight fluctuation with agein both sex except the significant increase in 13-18 and >18 years old males. The hemoglobin and hematocrit levels showed a slight but not significant increase with age in males except in the age groups13-18 and over 18 years old. On the other hand,females’ hemoglobin and hematocrit levels showed slight changes with age, in addition to significant lower than that of males in age groups of (13-18) and (> 18) years old. The MCV results show slight changes between age groups, except the significant increase in >18 years old males and females. The MCH and MCHC levels show insignificantly increase with age to reach the peak in >18 years old males and females. Platelets count shows a constant insignificant decrease in count with age. In addition to that female platelets count in age group (13-18) and >18 shows slightly higher than that in males in the same age groups. Literature reviews from different countries were reviewed. Also the causes of reduced in Hb and MCV results were reviewed.Finally the study results showedan expected pattern in all analytes except the Hb and MCV results for UAE population. They were significantly the lowest in all age groups of our study population which may be due to the high prevalence of hereditary and acquired anemia in the UAE. Key words: reference hematological ranges, Hemoglobin, Red cells, White cells, Platelets, Red cell indices.