Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Evaluation of a Point-of-Care Testing Analyzer for Measuring Peripheral Blood Leukocytes
Published on: March 22, 2022
Clinical chemistry reference intervals in clinically validated healthy individuals: A large single-center study
Rob F M Oude Elferink1, Shirly A M Wübbels1, Geert Sloots1
1ICON plc, Van Swietenlaan 6, 9728 NZ Groningen, the Netherlands.
Background:
Accurate reference intervals (RIs) for laboratory test results are essential in clinical practice. To enhance clinical decision-making, refined RIs are needed. Therefore a single-center study was performed with extensively evaluated healthy participants, measuring a large set of biochemical markers.
Methods:
In this descriptive, quantitative, a priori direct sampling, single-center study, a total of 18,701 determinations were collected from 8380 healthy adults aged 18 years and older. Age- and sex-specific RIs were established for 36 biochemical assays.
Results:
Serum concentrations of several biochemical assays remained relatively constant across the adult age range and were similar between sexes (e.g., total calcium, chloride and sodium). Other biochemical assays (e.g., alanine-amino transferase, triglycerides) showed differences, indicating the influence of factors such as age and sex on the observed results.
Conclusions:
For the first time in Europe, we established age- and sex-specific RIs for 36 biochemical assays using data from extensively clinically validated healthy participants.