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Population‐based erythrocyte sedimentation rates in 3910 subjectively healthy Norwegian adults. A statistical study based on men and women from the Oslo area
Author(s) -
WETTELAND P.,
RØGER M.,
SOLBERG H. E.,
IVERSEN O. H.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.625
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1365-2796
pISSN - 0954-6820
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2796.1996.30295851000.x
Subject(s) - medicine , erythrocyte sedimentation rate , confidence interval , norwegian , asymptomatic , demography , linear regression , reference values , population , reference range , statistics , mathematics , philosophy , linguistics , environmental health , sociology
Objectives. To establish age‐ and sex‐specific reference limits for the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in asymptomatic Norwegian adults. Design. Single ESR recordings were obtained by the classical or a modified Westergren method from 2145 men and 1765 women (93% being blood donors) with age range 20–90 years, and analysed statistically. Results. There was a significant positive association between ESR level and age, consistent with a parabolic pattern in men but a linear one in women. The mean values for men were about 3 mm h ‐1 at 20 years, 6 mm h ‐1 at 55 years, and 10 mm h ‐1 at 90 years, and 6, 9, and 11 mm h ‐1 respectively for women. These averages (predicted by regression lines) were significantly higher in women up to the age of 75 years, after which the estimated sex‐specific 95% confidence limits for mean values were found to overlap. Conclusions. The upper reference levels expected to be exceeded only by chance in 5% of single individual recordings at the ages of 20, 55 or 90 years, respectively, were estimated to be 12, 14 and 19 mm h ‐1 for men, and 18, 21 and 23 mm h ‐1 for women. Higher values should be controlled and, if confirmed, lead to a clinical check‐up. However, about 76% of our overall material had ESR values lower than 9 mm h ‐1 . Knowledge of each person's baseline ESR value might increase the disease‐predictive ability of the test. If several measurements over years reveal a steeper rise with age than depicted in our population‐based curves, it should be taken seriously, even when each reading is below the population‐based reference limits.