A-126 Exploring Gender and Age Differences in Adult Red Blood Cell Parameter Reference Ranges
Year: 2025
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Background According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of anemia in 2006, the hemoglobin level for males should be below 13 g/dL, and for females, it should be below 12 g/dL. However, the reference values published by medical centers in Taiwan currently show that the lower reference limit for female hemoglobin is typically between 11.0 and 11.5 g/dL, which differs from the range suggested by WHO. To understand this discrepancy and establish the reference interval for blood cell counts at our hospital, we initiated this study to further analyze blood parameters by gender and age group. Methods This study collected CBC test results from individuals who underwent health check-ups at our hospital between December 2024 and February 2025. Reference values were established according to the CLSI EP28-A3 guidelines. Based on these reference intervals, we selected blood cell count data from 5327 eligible subjects (2605 males and 2722 females). The red blood cell parameters in these test results had to fully meet the established reference value range to be included in the analysis. Subsequently, the results were analyzed by gender and grouped by every 10 years of age. Results The results of this study show that the reference intervals for hemoglobin in our hospital are as follows: for males, the range is 13.2–17.1 g/dL, and for females, the range is 11.4–15.1 g/dL. The lower limit of the female reference interval differs from the range recommended by WHO. Further analysis revealed that for females under the age of 50, the average hemoglobin levels remained stable across age groups, with a slight increase between 50–60 years, followed by a significant decrease after the age of 70. In contrast, for males, hemoglobin levels began to decrease gradually from adulthood, continuing to decline after the age of 50 and dropping sharply after 60. Additionally, the trends for red blood cell count (RBC) and hematocrit (Hct) followed similar patterns to hemoglobin levels, while the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) gradually increased with age. Conclusion This study shows that the hemoglobin reference range for females differs from the range suggested by WHO, and the trends in hemoglobin changes with age also differ. As society becomes increasingly aged, whether a unified reference interval for adult red blood cell parameters should be adopted to ensure the accuracy of clinical diagnoses is a matter for medical laboratory professionals to consider and further investigate.
Source: Clinical Chemistry
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4414741255