Red cell distribution width is inversely associated with body mass index in late adolescents

A. Klisic, I. Radoman Vujačić, J. Kostadinovic, A. Ninic

Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro. aleksandranklisic@gmail.com

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• Obesity
• Pediatrics

OBJECTIVE: There are no studies that investigated the association between red blood cell (RBC) and platelet (PLT) indices in relation to obesity in a cohort of exclusively late adolescents. Hence, we aimed to explore this potential relationship.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cohort of adolescents (n=156) aged between 16-19 years was included. Iron homeostasis parameters [i.e. RBC, hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and red cell distribution width (RDW)] and platelet indices [i.e., PLT, mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT) and platelet distribution width (PDW)] were determined on the automatic hematology analyzer. Their indexes (i.e. MCV/RBC, MCH/RBC, RDW/MCV, MPV/PLT and PDW/PCT) were calculated.

RESULTS: Univariate binary regression analysis showed negative associations between body mass index (BMI) and RDW, PDW, and PDW/PCT, respectively, and positive associations between BMI and MPV and PCT, respectively. However, only RDW kept the independent negative association with BMI in multivariate binary regression analysis [Odds Ratio (95% Confidence Interval)=0.734 (0.548-0.983); p=0.038].

CONCLUSIONS: Lower RDW values are the independent predictor of higher BMI in the adolescent population. As a low-cost and simply measured parameter, RDW could be a useful diagnostic biomarker in young populations with overweight/obesity.

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