The distributions of hematologic and biochemical values in healthy high-school adolescents in Japan

PLoS One. 2020 Nov 17;15(11):e0242272. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242272. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Laboratory tests of adolescents are often interpreted by using reference intervals derived from adults, even though these populations differ in their physical and physiologic characteristics and disease susceptibility. Therefore, to examine the distribution of laboratory values specific for adolescents, we analyzed hematologic and biochemical measurements obtained from 12,023 healthy Japanese adolescents (ages 15 through 18 years; male, 9165; female, 2858) during 2009 through 2018. Distributions were shown as medians with 95% (2.5th and 97.5th percentiles) of values and were compared with those from previous studies that examined similar Asian populations. There were some differences between hematologic parameters, serum creatinine and uric acid concentration, and lipid levels of Japanese adults and adolescents. In comparison with other Asian populations, the distributions of serum uric acid and high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol in the present study were slightly higher than those in the other studies. Although further research is need, the distributions of hematologic and biochemical tests in adolescents may have the potential to facilitate the early identification and management of disease in this population.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Blood Chemical Analysis / standards*
  • Cholesterol, HDL / blood*
  • Cholesterol, HDL / standards
  • Creatinine / blood*
  • Creatinine / standards
  • Female
  • Hematologic Tests / standards*
  • Humans
  • Japan
  • Male
  • Reference Values
  • Schools
  • Uric Acid / blood*
  • Uric Acid / standards

Substances

  • Cholesterol, HDL
  • Uric Acid
  • Creatinine

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.