Preliminary investigation of serum ferritin level and its reference interval in apparent healthy children population in Provincial Children’s Hospital

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Serum ferritin (SF) is a biomarker of physiological iron stores. Reference intervals for ferritin about children are the subject of some controversy. Methods SF was assayed on Beckman analyzer. All results were retrieved from the electronic medical record (3,344 samples). Student’s t test and one-way ANOVA test were applied to compare two groups, with respect to continuous and discrete variables. Results The reference range of SF on reference population was 8.40–95.98 µg/L. Among the male, there was no significant difference in the average level between the 0–1 years old group and the 1–3 years old group, but there were significant differences between the other groups and the previous group. In terms of women, there was no significant difference in the average level of ferritin between the 1–3 years old group and 9–17 years old group and the previous group, but there were significant differences in the average levels of ferritin in other groups. Conclusions We established the reference intervals of ferritin of different age groups and gender groups. Our results have practical significance for the formulation of clinical reference range, which would be helpful in interpreting laboratory data and clinical decision-making.