Hematological and Biochemical Laboratory Values in Older Cardiovascular Health Study Participants

OBJECTIVE: To define reference hematologic and biochemical lab values in older individuals. DESIGN: Randomly selected, age‐ and gender‐stratified participants. SETTING: Visits by participants to four research clinics. PATIENTS: A total of 5201 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study, an observational study of older Medicare‐eligible individuals living at home. MEASUREMENT: Information about health status, previous illness, and medication use was obtained from participants and/or their MDs. This information was used to define a healthy subset of the population. Blood samples were obtained for Cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, fasting and 2‐hour postload glucose and insulin, fibrinogen, factors VII and VIII, potassium, creatinine, albumin, uric acid, white blood count, hematocrit, hemoglobin, and platelet count. RESULTS: Significant differences were found for age group and/or gender for all mean values. Many tests were significantly different from the generally accepted reference ranges used in clinical laboratories. CONCLUSIONS: In some situations accepted laboratory norms for the general population can not be extrapolated to older adults. There are implications for both research and clinical practice. J Am Geriatr Soc 43:855–859, 1995. 1995 The American Geriatrics Society