Stratification and comparison of blood cell parameters of different age groups in plateau area

Abstract:

Objective：To investigate the changes of blood cell parameters with age and the differences between men and women at different ages of Tibetan people on the plateau，and to provide precise medical data for the health of Tibetan people and Tibetan aid cadres. Methods：This paper retrospectively studied 2 550 health examiners in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province and compared them with 4 596 low-altitude Han nationality examiners in Yibin. The blood cell parameters were red blood cell count（RBC），hemoglobin（Hgb），hematocrit（Hct），red blood cell distribution width-standard deviation（RDW-SD），red blood cell distribution width-variation coefficient（RDW-CV） and mean platelet volume（MPV）. People were divided into 5 groups according to age，A≤10 years old，1050 years old. Comparisons and statistical analyses were made from the general condition of each group，between people in different groups，between different genders of people in the same group，and between people in adjacent groups. Results：We found that before the age of 30，the increase of RBC，Hgb，Hct in Plateau Tibetan males was more obvious than that in plain Han males. After the age of 30，the increase of RBC，Hgb and Hct in Plateau Tibetan women was a gradual trend while those of Han nationality in the plain were declining，with statistical significance（P＜0.01）. In the comparison of each group of the Tibetan plateau with the total sample，RBC had obvious statistical significance（P<0.01），Hgb in groups B，D，and E，and Hct and MPV in groups D and E showed significant differences（P<0.01）. In the comparison between different genders of Tibetan plateau，RBC，Hgb，Hct，RDW-CV had significant statistical differences in groups B，C，D，E（P<0.01）；from the specific value fluctuation and difference，the difference between males and females，RBC，Hgb，and Hct were particularly obvious in groups C and D. In the grouping analysis of plateau Tibetans and plain Hans，there was no significant difference in Hgb and Hct in group A（≤10 years old）（P>0.01）. Conclusion：The parameters of RBC，Hgb，HCT，RDW-SD，RDW-CV and MPV of Tibetan people in Plateau vary obviously according to different ages and genders，with statistical significance for some parameters. Compared with the Plain Han nationality，the difference is also obvious. Understanding these differences and changes will be beneficial to the Tibetan population in the plateau and the large number of Tibetan aid cadres in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and health care.