Factors contributing to geriatric anemia

Abstract

Introduction: Among the elderly, anemia is a very common problem. Unlike when anemia occurs in younger adults, the cause of anemia in the elderly is often not readily apparent or attributable to a single cause. Anemia in the elderly is a public health crisis because it increases the risk of death by 40%. Materials and Methods: An observational study was conducted on a cohort of patients aged 60 years and above, presenting to our hospital, fulfilling the WHO criteria of anemia. The study was carried out over a period of 2 months (June 2015–July 2015). Results: In our study, of the 150 patients analyzed above the age of 60, 78% (119) were found to have anemia. Mean corpuscular volume was used for morphologic classification of anemia. Normocytic anemia was the most common type of anemia observed accounting for 77%. In this study, it was found that majority of the patients (50.4%) had anemia due to chronic disease, followed by unexplained anemia (29%), microcytic hypochromic anemia (probably iron deficiency anemia) (19.6%), and macrocytic anemia (1%). Out of the four chronic conditions analyzed, more number of anemic patients had diabetes, followed by chronic respiratory disease, hypertension, and renal disease. Conclusion: This study has shown that there is a significant number of people among the geriatric population who have anemia, with anemia due to chronic disease and microcytic hypochromic anemia being the most prevalent type. This condition can most definitely be rectified. Management of anemia can definitely improve the condition of the patient.