Comparative Study of Different Haemoglobin Estimation Methods

Abstract

Introduction: Anaemia is one of the most common haematological findings encountered in clinicalpractice. Diagnosis of anaemia is mainly done by haemoglobinestimation. Among many methodsavailable for hemoglobin estimation, for outpatient department we need fast and cheap method, forindoor patients we need more accurate methods for treatment direction and monitoring of the patient.Methods: 500 EDTA blood samples were obtained randomly from various indoor and outdoor patientdepartments of a tertiary care hospital in Ahmedabad, India and their hemoglobin was measured bySahli’sHaemoglobinometer, Cyanmethemoglobin Method &7-part haematology analyzer: SiemensADVIA2120i.Results:Repeatability standard deviationsof Sahli’s method, Drabkin’s method and cell counterrespectively were 0.61 g/dl, 0.38 g/dland 0.15 g/dl. When comparing Sahli’s method with Drabkin’smethod and cell counter, we found p value of <0.0001, suggesting significant difference between twomethods. Whereas Drabkin’s method was found to be comparable with cell counter with p value of>0.05.Conclusion: Sahli’s method although cheap and easy, is inaccurate and has subjective bias. So it can beused for screening purpose, but not for diagnosis and follow up of anaemia,Haemoglobin measurementby Drabkin’s method is very cost effective and it is as efficient as cell counter. It is especially usefulin fund deprived areas and where only haemoglobin value is required.Cell counter although highlyaccurate and versatile, requires good equipment, quality control, laboratory setup and trained personnel.So it should be preferably used when complete blood count is required.