Pediatric Reference Values for Some Renal Biochemistry Tests in Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

This study was aimed at determining the reference range values for five renal function parameters that are routinely analyzed in the clinical chemistry laboratory of Meru Level 5 Hospital. The study was cross-sectional, population-based and carried out on the young population of ages one to seventeen years in Meru County, Kenya. A total of 768 volunteers were screened out of which 740, comprising 360 females and 380 males that were found to be free from HIV, Hepatitis B and syphilis were selected for the purpose of constructing the reference ranges. DRI - CHEM NX 500I Clinical Chemistry analyzer (Fujifilm, Europe) was used to analyze the five biochemical parameters. The data was subjected to normality testing and having been found to follow a Gaussian distribution, parametric methods were used to determine the lower 2.5 and upper 97.5 percentiles of the distribution. The determined percentiles were considered the lower and upper reference limits respectively. Significant sex differences were observed in children reference values for potassium (p=0.009) and sodium (p=0.003). The other parameters (creatinine, urea and chloride) did not show significant sex dependent differences. In conclusion, the findings of this study provide sex-specific reference range values for children from Meru County in Kenya. The study recommends the health care practitioners and facilities in the region under study to adopt the new reference values developed and for other regions in Kenya to carry out a similar study to determine their own reference values.