Hello,
I am trying to share the “normal” lab range data with some people performing some data mapping. I can see this information in the bottom of the RELMA interface if I click on an individual lab (ex: 718-7 Hemoglobin). However, I cannot find these ranges in any of the LOINC files available for download (https://loinc.org/downloads). Is this data in any of the download files?
Thanks,
Chuck
Hello Chuck,
“Normal” lab ranges are affected by age, sex, race and ethnicity. As such, there isn’t one normal range for the entire population on earth for most analytes.
I believe the [12.0,16.0] range you see in RELMA on 718-7 would be a recording of the reference range used by the submitter for that term. We are required to provide example reports with submissions, which would lend that information.
LOINC is intended to accompany the locally generated lab values, units of measure, and reference range. It is not intended to dictate the units of measure nor the reference range.
Hope this helps,
Pam Banning, pdbanning@mmm.com