Comparison of Automated Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate with Gold Standard Westergren Method and its Correlation with Red Cell Parameters

Saima Iram; Manzar Bozdar; Hamid Saeed Malik; Sundas Durrani; Rafia Mahmood; Shazia Bano; Ayesha Khurshid; Syeda Samia Shafaat

Authors

Saima Iram Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi and Bolan Medical College Quetta
Manzar Bozdar Consultant Department of Haematology. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi
Hamid Saeed Malik Head of department and consultant Department of Haematology Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi
Sundas Durrani WMO/consultant Pathologist DHQ hospital Rawalpindi and Bilal hospital Rawalpindi
Rafia Mahmood Consultant Department of Haematology Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi
Shazia Bano Demontrator Department of Biochemistry Bolan Medical College Quetta
Ayesha Khurshid Consultant Department of Haematology Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi
Syeda Samia Shafaat Consultant Department of Haematology Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi

Keywords:

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, Automated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, Westergren method, Red cell parameters

Abstract

Objective: To compare the automated ESR with the gold standard Westergren method and investigate its correlation with red cell parameters.

Methodology; A total of 400 randomly collected blood samples (15-78 years of age) from Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) Rawalpindi were assayed parallelly using Westergren method and Greiner-Bio-One (Vacuette?) SRS 20/II ESR analyzer from October 2022 to January 2023. Results of these assays were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality and Spearman's correlation test for correlation.

Results: This study revealed a strong and significant correlation between the automated ESR analyzer and the classical gold standard Westergren method (r=0.907; p < 0.001). Additionally, the red blood cell parameters showed a positive and significant correlation with both automated and Westergren methods (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: With strong correlation between Greiner-Bio-One (Vacuette?) SRS 20/II ESR automated analyzer and the reference Westergren method, this study concludes that the automated technique is substantially associated with the Westergren method for estimating ESR, and red blood cell parameters have a positive and significant correlation with both methods.