Background: Published reports of haematological reference values for pre-primary and primary school aged residents of Port Harcourt, Nigeria are relatively scanty.
Aim: To determine the reference ranges of some haematological parameters for pre-primary and primary school aged children resident in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Methods: A total of 250 pre-primary school subjects consisting of 124 males and 126 females aged between 1 to 5 years and 536 primary school children consisting of 262 males and 274 females aged between 6 and 13 years resident in Port Harcourt, Nigeria were randomly recruited into the study. 3-5 ml of venous blood was collected with minimum stasis and the values of the following haematological parameters determined by the indicated methods: Haematocrit was determined using Hawksley micro-capillary tubes centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes. Red blood cells, white blood cells [including a differential count] and platelet cells were counted manually using the improved Neubauer counting chamber. Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) was determined using the Westergren method. Haemoglobin concentration was determined by the cyanmethaemoglobin method.
Results: The reference ranges for haematocrit, total white blood cell, differential neutrophils and lymphocyte counts, platelet cell counts and erythrocyte sedimentation rates; haemoglobin concentration and red cell counts are presented for male and female pre-primary and primary school children in Port Harcourt. There were no significant gender variations in the values of these parameters in both pre-primary and primary school children. However, primary school subjects, irrespective of sex, were found to have significantly higher values of lymphocyte differential counts and erythrocyte sedimentation rates and significantly lower platelet counts and total white cell counts and differential neutrophils counts compared to their pre-primary school counterparts [p<0.05]. There were no significant differences in the values of haematocrit between the two subject groups; though the values in primary school subjects were marginally higher.
Conclusions: The present study reports values and reference ranges of some haematological parameters for pre-primary and primary school aged children in Port Harcourt, Nigeria; no significant gender variations were observed in these parameters. The results indicate that significant differences exist in the values of some of the haematological parameters under investigation between pre-primary and primary school subjects. This suggests a distinction in the haematological parameters of both populations.