Summary: Physiological variables such as age, gender, circadian rhythm and effects of lifestyle such as exercise, smoking, and alcohol influence hematological measurements. Specimen collection and processing variables including analyte stability affect hematological test results. Time-dependent morphological changes occur in cells, which are accentuated by changes in specimen-anticoagulant blood ratio and the temperature of storage of specimen, thus impacting on the stability of cell populations. The pH of specimen anticoagulant can influence the size of the erythrocyte. Homogeneity of sample prior to analysis is a prerequisite. In vitro circulating antibody-specimen anticoagulant interactions can introduce changes in platelets and leukocytes. Increase in the concentration of some chemical analytes can affect hematological test results.
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Sheshadri Narayanan (2003) studied this question.