Suggested sex and age appropriate values for "low" and "deficient" hemoglobin levels.

New values for "deficient" and "low" Hb have been calculated as the smoothed 5th and the 15th percentiles for white males and females included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I). With separate tabulations for 18.389 white individuals contained in this data base and for 12,320 with transferrin saturation values of 16% and above, these new values have the advantage of being fully age-specific, based upon a single source of hematological data and providing quantitative definitions of "low" and "deficient."