Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30202778›Full record

ArticlePractical laboratory medicine2018

Should sex differences be considered when applying mathematical indices and formulas for discriminating β- thalassemia minor from iron deficiency?

Mahmoud Sirdah, Khaled Al Mghari, Ali H Abuzaid, Rami M Al Haddad

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In one paragraph

Article in Practical laboratory medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Mahmoud SirdahDepartment of Biology, Al Azhar University-Gaza (AUG), P O Box 1277, Gaza, Palestine.
Khaled Al MghariUniversity of Palestine, Gaza, Palestine.
Ali H AbuzaidDepartment of Mathematics, Al Azhar University-Gaza (AUG), Gaza, Palestine.
Rami M Al HaddadThalassemia and Hemophilia Center, Palestine Avenir Foundation, Gaza, Palestine.
Al-Azhar University – Gaza · PSAvenir Health · USUniversity of Palestine · PS

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundβ-thalassemia minor (BTM) and iron deficiency (ID) are common disorders characterized by microcytosis and/or hypochromasia, leading to a challenge in their discrimination during mass-screening programs especially in developing countries where resources are limited. It has been shown with varying reliability that quick exclusion of either disorder could be achieved mathematically using RBC-based indices and formulas. However, none of these proposed indices and formulas considered the sex-based hematological differences. This comparative retrospective study examined the efficacy of using sex-based RBC indices in the mathematical discrimination BTM and ID in adult males and females.

methodsThe CBC of randomly selected eight hundred adults diagnosed with BTM or ID (200M & 200F BTM, and 200M & 200F ID) were used in the comparisons. The discrimination power, in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and Youden index were calculated for all subjects and separately for males and females for 20 mathematical indices and formulas.

resultsData revealed significant differences in the RBC-based indices between males and females for both BTM and ID groups. Significant variation in reliability indicators for the different indices and formulas were discovered between males and females samples.

conclusionSex-based indices and formulas are necessary to improve the reliability in mathematically discriminating between BTM and ID in mass screening programs. We also advocate for a large-scale multicenter study to establish the parameters of such indices and formulas with sex and age.

Indexed as

Discrimination powerIron deficiencyMathematical indices and formulasSensitivitySpecificityβ-thalassemia minor

Identifiers

PMID30202778
PMCPMC6128243
OpenAlexW2792792562

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