Nívea Aparecida Almeida, Sandhi Maria Barreto, Letícia Gonçalves Resende Ferreira, Chams Bicalho Maluf, Pedro Guatimosim Vidigal, Roberta Carvalho Figueiredo, Danyelle Romana Alves Rios
{"title":"Reference intervals for complete blood count parameters in the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil): a cross-sectional analysis.","authors":"Nívea Aparecida Almeida, Sandhi Maria Barreto, Letícia Gonçalves Resende Ferreira, Chams Bicalho Maluf, Pedro Guatimosim Vidigal, Roberta Carvalho Figueiredo, Danyelle Romana Alves Rios","doi":"10.1590/1516-3180.2025.3017.09122025","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Complete blood count (CBC) is the most frequently requested laboratory test worldwide, providing essential clinical information. In Brazil, many laboratories still use reference intervals (RIs) that are inadequately defined or not representative of the local population. Establishing population-specific RIs is crucial for accurate interpretation, diagnosis, and clinical decision making.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To establish RIs for CBC parameters in a sample of Brazilian adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-sectional study included 2,417 healthy individuals who participated in the baseline (2008-2010) of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). Venous blood collection and storage were performed according to the procedures established by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) in 2018. CBC was performed in laboratories with laboratory proficiency. The RIs were calculated using the nonparametric method proposed by the CLSI.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The RIs were stratified by sex only for the following parameters: Red blood cells (RBC; × 106/mm3): Male (4.4-5.6), Female (3.9-5.1); Hemoglobin (g/dL): Male (13.2-16.7), Female (11.8-14.9); Hematocrit (%): Male (39-49), Female (35.3-44.2); Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC; g/dL): Male (32.3-35.7), Female (32-35.1); Platelets (× 103/mm3): Male (146-319), Female: (170-352). The other parameters were as follows: mean corpuscular volume (MCV) (fL): (79.9-96); mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) (pg): (26.4-32.5); White blood cells (WBC; /mm3): (3,700-8,610); Neutrophils (/mm 3): (1,666-5,705); Eosinophils (/mm3): (23.8-530); Basophils (/mm3): (0-112); Lymphocytes (/mm3): (1,121-2,824); Monocytes (/mm3): (240-751.7).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our results agree with those of other studies that have proposed RIs for CBC parameters. The differences found in MCV, neutrophil and WBC parameters (total population), and MCHC (both sexes) may be due to differences in the study populations, sample sizes, and pre-analytical and analytical study variables.</p>","PeriodicalId":49574,"journal":{"name":"Sao Paulo Medical Journal","volume":"144 2","pages":"e20253017"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2026-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13200561/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Sao Paulo Medical Journal","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2025.3017.09122025","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Complete blood count (CBC) is the most frequently requested laboratory test worldwide, providing essential clinical information. In Brazil, many laboratories still use reference intervals (RIs) that are inadequately defined or not representative of the local population. Establishing population-specific RIs is crucial for accurate interpretation, diagnosis, and clinical decision making.
Objective: To establish RIs for CBC parameters in a sample of Brazilian adults.
Methods: This cross-sectional study included 2,417 healthy individuals who participated in the baseline (2008-2010) of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). Venous blood collection and storage were performed according to the procedures established by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) in 2018. CBC was performed in laboratories with laboratory proficiency. The RIs were calculated using the nonparametric method proposed by the CLSI.
Results: The RIs were stratified by sex only for the following parameters: Red blood cells (RBC; × 106/mm3): Male (4.4-5.6), Female (3.9-5.1); Hemoglobin (g/dL): Male (13.2-16.7), Female (11.8-14.9); Hematocrit (%): Male (39-49), Female (35.3-44.2); Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC; g/dL): Male (32.3-35.7), Female (32-35.1); Platelets (× 103/mm3): Male (146-319), Female: (170-352). The other parameters were as follows: mean corpuscular volume (MCV) (fL): (79.9-96); mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) (pg): (26.4-32.5); White blood cells (WBC; /mm3): (3,700-8,610); Neutrophils (/mm 3): (1,666-5,705); Eosinophils (/mm3): (23.8-530); Basophils (/mm3): (0-112); Lymphocytes (/mm3): (1,121-2,824); Monocytes (/mm3): (240-751.7).
Conclusion: Our results agree with those of other studies that have proposed RIs for CBC parameters. The differences found in MCV, neutrophil and WBC parameters (total population), and MCHC (both sexes) may be due to differences in the study populations, sample sizes, and pre-analytical and analytical study variables.
期刊介绍:
Published bimonthly by the Associação Paulista de Medicina, the journal accepts articles in the fields of clinical health science (internal medicine, gynecology and obstetrics, mental health, surgery, pediatrics and public health). Articles will be accepted in the form of original articles (clinical trials, cohort, case-control, prevalence, incidence, accuracy and cost-effectiveness studies and systematic reviews with or without meta-analysis), narrative reviews of the literature, case reports, short communications and letters to the editor. Papers with a commercial objective will not be accepted.