Diagnóstico y tratamiento de la anemia ferropénica en la asistencia primaria de España

Abstract

Background and objective: Iron deficiency anemia is a frequent cause of consultation in routine medical practice. Knowing how it is diagnosed and treated in Primary Care can allow us to detect if there is any area for improvement.Method: Descriptive multicenter survey-type study with 12 questions to find out the aspects of greater variability in the management of iron deficiency anemia. The population under study are physicians from Primary Care Centers nationwide who treat these patients.Results: 732 physicians answered the form. 51.8% consider iron deficiency anemia a serious disease. To make the diagnosis, 80.7% check the ferritin and only 27.2% the transferrin saturation index (IST). 71.6% performed control tests every 3 months. 57.9% prescribe iron only for 3 months. 47% end treatment when Hb normalizes. When the patient is referred, the majority do so to the digestive service, followed by hematology, internal medicine, and gynecology.Conclusions: Despite the fact that almost 52% of those surveyed consider iron deficiency anemia a serious disease and that ferritin is the most useful biochemical determination for its diagnosis, around 20% do not use it. On the other hand, the IST, which can often help distinguish iron-deficiency anemia from inflammatory anemia, is only requested by slightly more than 27%, which can lead to diagnostic errors. On the other hand, on some occasions, the treatment is insufficient since the majority treat the patients for only 3 months and 47% finish the treatment when the Hb normalizes without taking into account the ferritin result. Although the diagnosis and treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in Primary Care has improved, it is likely that many patients would benefit from greater use of ferritin and IST and from longer-lasting treatments.