title: Predictive value of plasma haematocrit level in early diagnosis of pre-eclampsia.
abstract: While pre-eclampsia is the most common complication of pregnancy, a definitive screening test for early diagnosis is still elusive. In this study, haematocrit value was assessed as a screening test for pre-eclampsia in 660 women at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy attending a hospital in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Mean haematocrit values were significantly higher in pre-eclamptic than non-pre-eclamptic women: 37.7% (SD 2.0%) and 35.9% (SD 1.7%) respectively. The receiver operating characteristics curve showed that the most appropriate cut-off point for the haematocrit test in this sample of women was 38%; at this value the sensitivity was 58.6% and specificity was 88.9%; positive and negative predictive values were 33.7% and 95.7% respectively. The haematocrit, done as a routine screening test for anaemia at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy, may also be useful as a screening test for early diagnosis of pre-eclampsia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing Midwifery, Azad University, Sanandaj, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Golboni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heydarpour
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Taghizadeh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kazemnezhad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second / Q000097:blood; D012372:ROC Curve; D055815:Young Adult