Abstract
Anemia and inflammation are common clinical conditions in emergency departments. This study explored a cohort of patients admitted to the emergency department with a particular interest in determining the frequency of anemia and inflammation and the association between hemoglobin (Hb) and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations. The study included 125 patients categorized according to their demographic (gender and age) and clinical condition (Hb and CRP concentrations, pathological background, and diagnostic). We found that anemia and inflammation were simultaneously present in 36.0% of the cohort, reaching 67.0% in patients that were subsequently hospitalized. The Hb level was significantly lower in patients with elevated concentration of CRP when compared to individuals with normal CRP levels (11.58 ± 2.23 vs. 13.25 ± 1.80, p = 0.001); furthermore, we found a significantly negative correlation between Hb concentration and the CRP level (rs = −0.42, p < 0.001). The linear regression model applied to the cohort showed that CRP levels explain 15% of Hb variations. The sensitivity of the CRP/Hb ratio (cut-off = 1.32) as a predictor of hospitalization was 80.0%, with a specificity of 68.4% for all patients. These findings confirmed the prevalence of anemia and inflammation and identified a moderate but significant association between Hb and serum CRP in a heterogeneous group of patients admitted to the emergency department.
Highlights
Admissions to emergency departments (EDs) comprise a very heterogeneous population, from patient demographics to the type of symptoms and conditions that require immediate care [1]
An active inflammatory process was considered when C-reactive protein (CRP) was above 5 mg/L
When considering the entire cohort, we found a significantly negative correlation between the Hb concentration and the CRP levels (Figure 1)
Summary
Admissions to emergency departments (EDs) comprise a very heterogeneous population, from patient demographics to the type of symptoms and conditions (chronic or acute) that require immediate care [1]. Many studies are conducted for specific pathologies with highly isolated groups of individuals, many of the patients admitted to EDs present multiple symptoms and comorbidities, often associated with chronic pathologies that lack characterization [2]. The association between the clinical history, symptoms, and data from exams such as blood laboratory analysis is relevant to understanding the patient’s health problem [3]. The information retrieved from blood laboratory analysis influences 70% of medical decisions [4]. Anemia encompasses low levels of circulating red blood cells (RBCs) or Hb concentration and is defined with Hb threshold values of
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