Abdullah Algın Department of Emergency Medicine, Health of Sciences University, Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey Serdar Özdemir Department of Emergency Medicine, Health of Sciences University, Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey Ebubekir Arslan Mogadishu Somalia Turkish Training and Research Hospital, Mogadishu, Somalia Abuzer Özkan Mogadishu Somalia Turkish Training and Research Hospital, Mogadishu, Somalia

Keywords: Malaria; platelet; mortality; severity

Abstract

Aim
To evaluate the ability of platelet count, mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, and platelet mass index to predict the severity of malaria.
Materials and Methods
This study was conducted as a retrospective cohort study at a tertiary hospital in Somali. Patients grouped as severe and non-severe malaria. We compared groups in terms of platelet count, mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, and platelet mass index.
Results
A total of 131 patients were included in the final analysis. Of the patients, 77 (58.7%) had non-severe malaria, and 54 (41.3%) had severe malaria. The multivariate analysis revealed that there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of platelet count, mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, and platelet mass index (p: 0.183, 0.323, 0.204, and 0.139, respectively). In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the area under the curve values for platelet count, mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, and platelet mass index were 0.699, 0.619, 0.504, and 0.675, respectively.
Conclusion
Of the platelet indices, platelet count, mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, and platelet mass index were not clinically significant markers that could be used to predict the severity of malaria.

Section

Original Research

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