Mean hemoglobin concentrations in fasting venous and non-fasting capillary blood of Cambodian women using a hemoglobinometer and an automated hematology analyzer

To the Editor,

Hemoglobin (Hb) concentration is often measured in field settings using a portable hemoglobinometer, or in laboratories using a hematology analyzer. Discrepancies in measurement between these two methods have been reported [1], [2], [3], [4]. Most often, capillary blood is used for Hb measurement on the HemoCue® (especially in rural field settings), and venous blood is used on the Sysmex analyzer (due to a larger volume of blood required) [5]. Therefore, it is difficult to ascertain whether the device or the sample collection method is contributing to the observed discrepancy. Our primary aim was to compare mean Hb concentrations in the same fasting venous blood sample of Cambodian women using a HemoCue® 301 and a Sysmex hematology analyzer. As a secondary aim, we compared the two venous Hb measurements to a non-fasting capillary blood sample from the same Cambodian women using the same HemoCue® 301 device.