Researchers evaluated the accuracy of anemia diagnosis using HemoCue Hb 201+ wicking and gravity blood sampling methods and a noninvasive device. Venous blood samples taken from Rwandan children 6-59 months of age compared these three methods against a standard reference measured with a hematology analyzer. Results showed that the HemoCue gravity method was the most accurate. However, use of the HemoCue gravity method in low-resource settings is limited, while the use of the noninvasive method requires less training of health workers and can increase patient and caregiver acceptability, reduce the risk of infection, and reduce the burden on supply, making the non-invasive method promising for use in low-resource settings.
Megan Parker et al. PLoS ONE (January, 2018).