Establishment of hematological reference intervals for healthy adults in Asmara

Objectives Clinical laboratory reference intervals used in a specific area should be derived from the local population as they are influenced by many factors. The purpose of this quantitative cross sectional study was to establish hematological reference intervals for healthy adults in Asmara and to determine whether the currently used reference interval do represent the adult population in the city. In addition, the established reference intervals were compared to findings from similar studies conducted in selected countries in Africa. Results There was a significant difference between males and females in the reference intervals for erythrocyte count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean cell volume, mean cell hemoglobin, mean cell hemoglobin concentration and differential white blood cell count. All the evaluated hematological analytes were found to be higher in males than in females except for platelet count. The out of range percentage for the parameters extends from 3.5 to 46.7%; with red blood cell count having the lowest while mean cell volume having the highest out of range percentage. The results indicated that the currently used reference interval does not represent the population in Asmara and are different from those obtained elsewhere in Africa. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3142-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.