Table 3.
NT-proBNP reference intervals (robust method).
| Age category (years) | Sex | Sample size | 2.5th percentile (90% CI) | 50th percentile (90% CI) | 97.5th percentile (90% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Male | 60 | 25 (20, 493) | 97 (83, 116) | 379 (303, 493) |
| Female | 57 | 23 (18, 475) | 93 (79, 108) | 367 (290, 475) | |
| 2 to 5 | Male | 254 | 12 (10, 351) | 60 (55, 66) | 304 (264, 351) |
| Female | 241 | 14 (12, 326) | 61 (57, 66) | 277 (235, 326) | |
| 6 to 11 | Male | 634 | 11 (10, 296) | 54 (51, 57) | 267 (241, 296) |
| Female | 633 | 12 (11, 279) | 55 (52, 58) | 254 (233, 279) | |
| 12 to 15 | Male | 810 | 4 (4, 193) | 28 (26, 30) | 177 (163, 193) |
| Female | 883 | 7 (6, 179) | 34 (33, 36) | 165 (154, 179) | |
| 16 to 19 | Male | 881 | 3 (3, 91) | 16 (15, 17) | 84 (77, 91) |
| Female | 797 | 7 (6, 162) | 32 (30, 33) | 149 (137, 162) | |
| 20 to 29 | Male | 374 | 3 (3, 103) | 16 (15, 18) | 91 (80, 103) |
| Female | 395 | 10 (9, 223) | 44 (41, 47) | 199 (179, 223) | |
| 30 to 39 | Male | 229 | 4 (4, 117) | 21 (19, 23) | 100 (86, 117) |
| Female | 272 | 14 (12, 211) | 50 (47, 54) | 186 (164, 211) | |
| 40 to 49 | Male | 155 | 4 (3, 170) | 24 (21, 27) | 140 (118, 170) |
| Female | 157 | 15 (12, 287) | 59 (54, 65) | 238 (196, 287) | |
| 50 to 59 | Male | 77 | 7 (5, 326) | 41 (35, 46) | 225 (158, 326) |
| Female | 86 | 17 (13, 348) | 71 (61, 81) | 292 (242, 348) | |
| 60 to 69 | Male | 48 | 8 (5, 757) | 61 (49, 75) | 456 (292, 757) |
| Female | 52 | 28 (22, 369) | 90 (79, 105) | 290 (233, 369) | |
| 70+ | Male | 61 | 19 (12, 1930) | 155 (123, 193) | 1286 (849, 1930) |
| Female | 43 | 32 (22, 1510) | 177 (141, 222) | 976 (664, 1510) |
The lower reference limit (2.5th percentile), median, and upper reference limit (97.5th percentile) of NT-proBNP in healthy NHANES participants from survey cycles 1999–2004, partitioned by sex and age category, using the robust method are displayed here. This iterative method determines a measure of spread around the median, downweighting outliers in successive iterations.