Complete Blood Count Reference Ranges from a Rural Haitian Ambulatory Care Clinic

Abstract

Background: At rural healthcare centers in developing countries, it is difficult to recruit healthy individuals for reference range studies. So, in this study, I evaluated complete blood count (CBC) data to determine reference ranges for a rural Haitian population. Methods: A convenience sample of laboratory records was reviewed to obtain CBC results for 157 adult patients with normal screening examination results. Central 95% reference ranges were determined for male and female subjects. Results: Relative to reference ranges obtained with United States (US)–based subjects, the hemoglobin (Hgb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ranges were lower in subjects who resided in rural Haiti. The upper reference limit of the red blood cell distribution width–coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) was higher than the reference range for the US-based group. Conclusion: Locally derived CBC reference ranges were established using data from subjects who resided in rural Haiti. Ranges for Hgb, Hct, MCV, MCH, RDW-CV, and ANC differed from those established using data from US-based subjects.