[Evaluation of two methods for haemoglobin measurement in Cameroonian blood donors].

In order to identify a rapid feasible and adaptable method of haemoglobin measurement for use in a blood bank, two methods were evaluated against the automated method in 204 blood donors in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Anaemia was defined as Haemoglobin<12 g/dl. Using the World Health Organisation (WHO) haemoglobin colour scale (HCS), the Hemocue method (HemoCue AB, Angelhom, Suède) and the Celly Electronic counter (Hycel Diagnostics, Reims, France), anaemia was found in 27.5, 29.4 and 31.9% of donors respectively (P<0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of the HCS was 75.38 and 94.96% respectively compared to 86.15 and 97.13% respectively in the HemoCue method. Correlation studies between each method compared to automated method showed r=0.70 for the WHO. colour scale method and 0.91 for the Hemocue method. Using the Bland and Altman statistical method, the haemoglobin distribution around the mean was wider in the WHO scale (-2.74;+2.96) than in the Hemocue method (-2.06; +1.38). We conclude that while the two methods can be used to detect anaemia in the blood bank, that the Hemocue method is more sensitive and more specific.