Population-Based Reference Intervals for Some Chemical Pathology Analytes in Lagos Communities

Abstract

Background: The need to avoid misleading reference intervals (RI) which can affect clinical decisions about the management of patients led this study aimed at determining the population-based RI of some chemical pathology analytes among adults in Lagos State, Nigeria. Methods: This was a population-based, cross-sectional study conducted in August 2022 on selected residents in all the five divisions of Lagos State. Blood samples of Apparently healthy three hundred and forty-one (341) participants aged 18-89 years were analyzed for sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, phosphates, magnesium, creatinine, uric acid, albumin, total protein, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, triglycerides and total cholesterol using Miura 200 machine. Data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences, Inc., Chicago, Ill version 26.0. The median, 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles and gender-specific data were obtained. Results: The mean age of the 341 participants was 50.1 ±14.4 years. There were 189 (55.4%) females and 152 (44.6%) males. The male-to-female ratio was 1:0.8. The majority of the parameters had similar median, 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles across the genders while most of the analytes had a wide RI relative to known values. Conclusion: A wider RI found in this study with no gender disparity suggests that caution should be exercised in interpreting biochemical results of South West Nigerians in order to avoid the error of wrong diagnosis and management.