Accuracy of Hemoglobin Determinations on Finger-Tip Blood

AN analysis of the sources of errors and their magnitude for hemoglobin determinations made by the photoelectric method is presented in this report. The hemoglobin estimates were part of serial examinations on a group of employed women. In order to evaluate fluctuations in the hemoglobin levels at different times, it is necessary to have a measure of the variation in estimated amounts of hemoglobin in the blood that is to be expected as a result of the experimental error for the method used in determining the hemoglobin values. Since many studies on hemoglobin are made which involve exact comparisons of values obtained at different times or under changed conditions the accuracy shown for the photoelectric method by this analysis is of interest. The blood sample used for determining the amount of hemoglobin was taken by pricking the finger-tip. The finger-tip sample is easily and quickly obtained and, as a rule, the subject is less likely to object to having the finger pricked than to having a venipuncture sample taken. For surveys and in the routine practice of most physicians, a sample taken from the finger or ear-lobe is usually the preferred method of taking the blood specimen.