Abstract
INTRODUCTION: This research was conducted to assess the effectiveness of red cell distribution width (RDW) as an indicator for pre-eclampsia (PE), a condition characterized by elevated blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine occurring beyond the 20th week of pregnancy. METHODOLOGY: The case-control investigation spanned 10 months, following the acquisition of informed consent and the receipt of ethical clearance. The study sample comprised a total of 70 pregnant women, evenly divided into two groups: 35 cases of PE and 35 normotensive pregnant controls. Both the cases and controls provided 3 ml venous blood samples. The study employed a semi-automated three-part hematological analyzer to establish the baseline RDW for all individuals. RESULTS: This study showed that the individuals with pre-eclampsia had a greater RDW compared to the healthy pregnant women. The observed difference was found to be statistically significant, with a p-value of 0.004. The receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis showed that RDW exhibited significant diagnostic accuracy in differentiating between cases and controls (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.71, P = 0.004) when employing a cut-off value of >= 18.25. The sensitivity was 80% and the specificity was 71.4%. CONCLUSION: In contrast to other indicators of inflammation, RDW is a cost-effective and easily accessible biomarker that can be acquired from routine complete blood counts. It has the potential to be valuable in predicting and diagnosing pre-eclampsia.