Have you ever wondered what reference values are? It should be noted that this topic applies to every person. To begin with, it is worth saying that the reference value is a medical term. It is used by specialists in evaluating and conducting special laboratory tests. In such studies, the reference value is obtained as a result of a mass examination of the entire healthy population. In addition, it is the average value of the laboratory indicator obtained as a result of research.
Currently, the reference value is most often used only in those studies in which some information is needed directly about the object of this study. This is important for evaluating the result of any analysis. Normally, it falls into the so-called range of values, which is determined for the corresponding part of the surveyed population, allocated by age, gender or some other indicator.
In addition to all the above, I would like to note that a group of healthy people is determined by sampling the initial target group. It is for her that a special type of examination is intended. At the next stage, most of the selected people have some kind of research, as a result some indicator is determined. Subsequently, the average value is calculated, and then the range of reference values. It, in turn, is equal to approximately two or three (plus or minus) standard deviations from the mean value obtained earlier.
The reference value as a term reflects, first of all, only the relative value of all the results obtained in the research. This is always taken into account by specialists. For example, such a reference value can be used only in a certain group of people. It is worth noting that if you evaluate the results of any research, you can see that the reference values of completely different subgroups have significant differences. Of course, everything in this case depends on the sex and age characteristics of people. However, some general blood counts are also observed, for example, in a group of women twenty to thirty years old. As for pregnant women, the values for them will no longer be reference values. This is due to the fact that in the body of expectant mothers there is a huge amount of change.
Experts argue that any reference values in some cases are not absolute in a certain group of people for any indicator. The thing is that currently there are many special research indicators. For each of them, standard reference values were not established. Such ranges were not found for many reasons. In addition to all this, each laboratory today most often sets for itself its own ranges of reference values. This is due to significant differences in the equipment used in it, in the methods and, oddly enough, in international or proprietary test systems, as well as units.
In conclusion, I would like to note that the reference value is, first of all, the value of the norm for any indicator. In addition, such ranges are often not taken into account at all. For example, they are not considered in cases of determining the content of any drug in the blood of a person who is in an unconscious state. In such a situation, the study is carried out in order to assess the effect of a substance on the human body, and not to determine the ratio of a similar concentration to a range of reference values. And there are a lot of such examples.