HEMATOLOGICAL MARKERS IN DEPRESSED ADOLESCENTS: RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF AN INPATIENT POPULATION AT A MAJOR UNIVERSITY PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL

Psychological and internal stressors can affect hematological function. Changes may be attributable to alterations in glucocorticoids, changes in erythropoiesis, inflammatory responses, depressive medications, or hemodynamic instability. Limited data on hematological changes in depressive disorders have mainly focused on animal models, with few studies in depressed humans, and none in adolescents. The present study’s objective was to utilize retrospective data to compare hematological indices between depressed adolescents and non depressed matched controls. Depressed male and female adolescents (n = 171) were identified through a retrospective chart review at Mott Children’s Hospital and hematological data were acquired for individuals meeting the inclusion criteria and hemoglobin, hematocrit, MCV, and MCHC were compared to matched, non-depressed adolescents using ANOVA and two sample independent t-tests in SPSS v. 22.

Mean hematocrit, hemoglobin, MCV, and MCHC values were within normal ranges in both groups. Depressed adolescents had significantly higher hematocrit and hemoglobin values when compared to controls, and results remained similar when stratified by gender. Our findings agree with previous hypotheses and data that depressed individuals may have altered erythropoiesis, hemodynamic changes, or other metabolic alterations affecting red blood cell indices.