Investigating the association between various platelet indices and different clinical sub-groups of severe malaria.

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.