Evaluation of three methods for hemoglobin measurement in a blood donor setting

Jacob Rosenblit, Cláudia Regina Abreu, Leonel Nulman Szterling, José Mauro Kutner, Nelson Hamerschlak, Paula Frutuoso, Thelma Regina Silva Stracieri de Paiva, Orlando da Costa Ferreira Júnior
1999 São Paulo Medical Journal  
CONTEXT: The hemoglobin (Hb) level is the most-used parameter for screening blood donors for the presence of anemia, one of the most-used methods for measuring Hb levels is based on photometric detection of cyanmetahemoglobin, as an alternative to this technology, HemoCue has developed a photometric method based on the determination of azide metahemoglobin. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of three methods for hemoglobin (Hb) determination in a blood bank setting. DESIGN: Prospective
more » ... utilizing blood samples to compare methods for Hb determination. SETTING: Hemotherapy Service of the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, a private institution in the tertiary health care system. SAMPLE: Serial blood samples were collected from 259 individuals during the period from March to June 1996. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Test performances and their comparisons were assessed by the analysis of coefficients of variation (CV), linear regression and mean differences. RESULTS: The CV for the three methods were: Coulter 0.68%, Cobas 0.82% and HemoCue 0.69%. There was no difference between the mean Hb determination for the three methods (p>0.05). The Coulter and Cobas methods showed the best agreement and the HemoCue method gave a lower Hb determination when compared to both the Coulter and Cobas methods. However, pairs of methods involving the HemoCue seem to have narrower limits of agreement (± 0.78 and ± 1.02) than the Coulter and Cobas combination (± 1.13). CONCLUSION: The three methods provide good agreement for hemoglobin determination.
doi:10.1590/s1516-31801999000300003 pmid:10511728 fatcat:bfl5xdsfnnerfl25rei32weqwy