Abstract:

Objective: In this study, we aimed to examine the complete blood count parameters and blood-based systemic inflammatory markers in children with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Methods: Retrospectively, complete blood count of 48 GAD diagnosed children and adolescents and age-gender matched 46 healthy controls were compared in terms of hemoglobin (Hb), erythrocyte distribution width (RDW), platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), plateletcrit (PCT), white blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte counts and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet to lymphocyte ratios (PLR). Chi-square test, independent samples t-test and MannWhitney U test were used for statistical evaluation. Results: MPV levels were found to be significantly higher (p=0.020), while PLT and PDW levels were found to be significantly lower (p=0.018 and p=0.011, respectively) in children and adolescents with GAD. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of Hb, RDW, PCT, WBC neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte counts and NLR, MLR, PLR between case and control groups. Conclusions: Platelet parameters that have been postulated to be associated with inflammation, such as MPV and PDW may be related to possible inflammatory back ground of GAD in children and adolescents and comprehensive prospective studies are required on this subject.

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