In order to provide an overview of the relative contribution of platelet, von Willebrand factor, and other abnormalities to patients with clinical bleeding difficulties, we performed a retrospective survey of coagulation studies on 569 individuals referred to the University of Manitoba coagulation laboratory because they, or a closely related family member, showed clinical evidence of a bleeding disorder. There was a highly significant (p less than 0.001) negative correlation between the bleeding time and each of the following parameters: the platelet count; the hematocrit; the percent aggregation to collagen, epinephrine, ADP, and arachidonic acid; and the logarithm of von Willebrand factor antigen and a measure of its activity (ristocetin cofactor). A significant and independent inverse relationship between the length of the bleeding time and the extent of platelet adhesion to glass beads, patient age, and prothrombin consumption were also observed. Multivariate analysis of the ability of all parameters to predict the bleeding time showed an r2 of only 0.33. Bleeding time thromboxane B2, in a second smaller study of 70 patients, showed a negative correlation with the length of the bleeding time (p = 0.0001), and, when used together with the above parameters, significantly enhanced the ability to predict the length of the bleeding time (r2 = 0.55). Defects in platelet function, as measured in vitro, and significant enough to have an effect on the bleeding time, occurred with greater frequency than defects in von Willebrand factor in the Manitoba patients evaluated.