Role of point of care hemoglobin tests to get the diagnostic accuracy of anemia among the adolescent population of Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

Abstract Background: Public health issues involving anemia affect people of all ages. To prevent incorrect diagnosis classification, point-of-care-tests (POCTs) that are accessible in community settings must be accurate. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to quantify the prevalence of anemia among teenagers and to assess the accuracy and reliability of two point-of-care assays, the World Health Organization hemoglobin color scale (HCS) and the Sahli’s Method. Methodology: In the Jabalpur district, 600 urban and rural teenagers participated in a community-based cross-sectional survey. Both Strip and Sahli’s approaches were administered to participants at the same time. After that, a venous sample was taken for autoanalyzer testing. Statistics for accuracy and reliability were computed. The level of agreement between the POCTs and the gold standard was determined using the Altmann Bland plot and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated revised cut-offs for the HCS approach. Results: The actual prevalence of anemia was found to be 20.5%. Sahli’s technique had the highest specificity, whereas HCS had the lowest sensitivity (52.0% and 72.9%, respectively) (86.4%). Despite the fact that the color scale is a cheap and portable approach for field studies, it has been determined that anemics are overreported. However, ROC analysis indicated specific cutoffs for various age groups that can be used for disease burden estimation studies in contexts with limited resources. Conclusion: For estimating hemoglobin, HCS is less effective than Sahli’s and autoanalyzer methods. We established that the HCS technique overreported anemia, while Sahli’s method had poorer levels of agreement.