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Background: The reference interval (RI) is arguably the most widely used decision making tool in clinical practice. Using the manufacturer’s reference values may not be appropriate for other ethnic populations.
Objective: The objective was to determine the reference intervals (RI) of Ghanaians and compare them to that provided in kits.
Methods: 6300 adults, 25 - 65 years were selected by cluster sampling from three communities in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. A total of 4733 (male/female ratio = 1:1.5) participated. Fasting Blood Glucose (FF), 2-hour post-glucose plasma glucose (2HPP), total cholesterol (TCHOL), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), uric acid (UA), urea (U), albumin (ALB), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were measured.
Results: Male and female mean ages were 44.9 +14.7 and 44.0 +14.6 years, respectively. Most assays had mean values between the 25th and 75th percentile apart from HDL-C whose mean values fell within the 50th percentile. Thus half of the manufacturers RI (MRI) represented 25 percentile for FF, 2HPP, LDL-C, ALB and ALP. The MRI for Urea was <25th - >97.5th.
Conclusions: Mean values of most of the parameters determined represented the 25th – 75th and not the 95th or 97.5th percentile.
DOI: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2011.110107
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