Chronic renal insufficiency can cause early anemia: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Chronic renal insufficiency has emerged as a global health issue, causing significant morbidity and mortality. Anybody can develop anemia but it is very common in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Renal anemia develops as a result of CKD, and its prevalence rises as the disease progresses. The WHO defines anemia as a hemoglobin level <13 gm/dl for males as well as women in the post-menopausal age group and ˂12 gm/dl for women in the pre-menopausal age group. Aim and Objectives: This study was done to assess whether a correlation exists between the grades of anemia and various stages of chronic renal insufficiency. Materials and Methods: The authors conducted a cross-sectional study involving 145 subjects with diabetes mellitus and CKD. The primary aim was to investigate the various grades of anemia in different stages of CKD patients. We classified the CKD patients into 5 stages based on GFR rates, as defined by guidelines of the national kidney foundation. Results: This study shows that out of 145 subjects having diabetic nephropathy with CKD, 59 subjects had mild anemia, 60 subjects had moderate anemia, and 26 subjects had severe anemia. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 16.0 version. The qualitative results were presented in frequency, percentages, and graphs. Baseline characteristic cases were compared with grades of anemia. For the correlation between two variables, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were applied. The majority of patients with Grade 2 and Grade 3 CKD had mildto-moderate grades of anemia which worsened as the stage of CKD progressed and came out to be highly significant. Conclusion: This study concludes that anemia is a consistent finding in patients of CKD; the severity of anemia progresses as the kidney function is compromised.