Hemoglobin and packed cell volume - reference values for healthy Pakistani adults

ABSTRACT

For meaningful interpretation of laboratory results, it is essential to establish normal reference values. In Pakistan only a handful of studies have been conducted to achieve this purpose. This need was also felt at the Aga Khan University Hospital and we embarked on a project to establish these normal ranges for Pakistani population. As the first part of the project, the hemoglobin and packed cell volume [PCV] estimation were done on 300 males and 200 females from different socio-economic and ethnic strata. As regards these two parameters, there has been general misconcepetion that the general healthy Pakistan population's hemoglobin and PCV is lower than the developed countries. Our study negated this point of view and we found out that the normal ranges of hemoglobin and PCV for the general healthy Pakistan population is at par with other developed countries. Our results show that the mean hemoglobin for Pakistani males is 15.01 +/- 1.338 gm% and for females is 12.53 +/- 1.416 gm%. The mean PCV for males is 45.3 +/- 3.43 and for females is 38.7 +/- 3.34