Does anthropometric measurements correlate with hematological parameters after the adolescent growth period?

Introduction: Musculoskeletal growth is variable during adolescent period and reaches its maximum by 18 years, whereas hemopoietic parameters reach adult values by 15 years. After adolescence period, the blood parameters may vary with nutrition and built of the individual. The purpose of this study was to find out any correlation between anthropometric and hematological parameters after the adolescent growth period. Methods: Total of 81 subjects (males: 20; females: 61), 18-22 years were analyzed for 4 anthropometric measures and 19 hematological markers. Blood was collected in citrate tubes and analyzed for hematological parameters. Results: Difference between BMI sub-groups with respect to hemoglobin (Hb), red cell distribution width-standard deviation (RDW-SD) and red cell distribution width-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) in males and females was not significant. In males, height showed negative correlation with mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and weight showed positive correlation with hematocrit. BMI positively correlated with Hb. Body surface area (BSA) correlated with red blood cell count (RBC) and hematocrit. In females, height, weight and BSA did not show significant correlation with any of the blood parameters. BMI correlated positively with mid-cell fraction and negatively with mean platelet volume. RDW-SD and RDW-CV did not reveal any statistically significant correlation with height, weight, BMI and BSA in both males and females. Conclusion: In male subjects, hemoglobin concentration positively correlated with BMI whereas RBC count and hematocrit correlated with BSA. In females no such association was noted. RDW did not show any correlation with anthropometric measures in both genders.