Evaluation of three methods for hemoglobin. Measurement in a blood donor setting

RESUMO

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, Hemo Cue 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 study utilizing samples to compare methods for Hb determination. Setting: Hemotherapy Service of the Hospital Israelita Albert Eistein, a private institution in the tertiary health care system. Samples Seria blood samples were collected from 259 individuals during the period from March to June 1996. Main Measurements Test performances and their comparisions 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 per cent, Cobas 0.82 per cent and Hemo Cue 0.69 per cent. 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, paris of methods involving the Hemo Cue 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.