Steady state haematological characteristics of Nigerians with sickle cell anaemia and those with normal adult haemoglobin

Background: Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is a hereditary disorder associated with high morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study is to determine the haematological parameters among patients with SCA and to compare it with those of haemoglobin AA individuals. Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted among known SCA patients and Haemoglobin AA individuals recruited from among blood donors, medical students and staff. About 2mls of blood collected from each participant for haemoglobin electrophoresis and full blood count analysis using haematology autoanalyzer. Ethical approval was gotten from the institution and informed consent was gotten from the participants. Data was analysed using SPSS software, version 20. Results: One hundred and eighty six participants were recruited, made up of 84 persons with sickle cell anaemia and 102 haemoglobin AA control. Sickle cell anaemia patients had a mean haematocrit of 22.9% which is significantly lower than the haematocrit of 38.4% (P= 0.000) in haemoglobin AA control. Likewise SCA patients had a mean haemoglobin concentration of 7.3g/dl which is significantly lower than haemoglobin concentration of 12.5g/dl (P= 0.000) in Haemoglobin AA control.  Conclusion: Individuals with sickle cell anaemia have higher values for white blood cell and platelet count as well as red cell distribution width, mean cell haemoglobin concentration but lower values for haemoglobin concentration, red cell count and packed cell volume  compared to haemoglobin AA individuals.