Factors Causing Derangement in Hematological Parameters among Malaria Patients: Descriptive Study

Abstract

Malaria is a global health issue caused by Plasmodium Falciparum. Purpose: To determine the effect of age and duration of disease on the derangement in hematological parameters among patients with malaria. Study Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional. Methodology: The current project was conducted at department of Department of Hematology, Combined Military Hospital, Multan. Study comprised of 186 subjects suffering from malaria with hematological dearrangements. Blood taken for routine investigations like ICT malaria and CBC to diagnose anemia and low platelet count. Statistical analysis: The collected data was analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Post-stratification chi-square test was used with p-value<0.05 as significant. Results: Patients were with mean age of 41.80 ± 8.51 years. Mean duration of disease in our study was 4.91 ± 1.32 days. Out of 186 cases, total plasmodium vivax cases were 127 and the remaining 59 cases were of plasmodium falciparum. Among these 127 cases of plasmodium vivax 20 cases were having anemia and 101 cases had thrombocytopenia. Conclusion: We concluded that the frequency of derangement in hematological parameter in terms of low platelet count was high in comparison to anemia among enrolled subjects. Low platelet count was significantly linked with age groups. Key Words: Malaria, Age, Anemia, Platelet Count and Duration of Disease.