The Use of Folic Acid in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients With Anemia

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined as decreasing kidney function (GFR < 60 ml/minute/1.73 m2 ) for more than 3 months. Anemia is a common complication of CKD due to a decrease in the hormone erythropoietin related to hemoglobin levels. One of the anemia therapies involves using folic acid. Folic acid helps the process of nucleoprotein synthesis and erythropoiesis maintenance. The objective of this study was to determine the pattern of folic acid applied to CKD patients with anemia at University of Muhammadiyah Malang General Hospital. Observational, descriptive, and retrospective data collection methods were used. The results showed that there were 17 patients (47%) with a single use of folic acid (3x1 mg, oral); the most common pattern of the two-combination was folic acid (3x1 mg, oral) and PRC (250 ml, intravenous [iv]), which was given to 11 patients (65%); and the most common pattern of threecombination was folic acid (3x1 mg, oral), Promavit® (3x1 tab, oral), and PRC (250 ml, iv), which was given to 2 patients or 100%. Of the 16 switch patterns, the most of common combination was a single pattern of folic acid (3x1 mg, oral) and a combination of folic acid (3x1 mg, oral) and PRC (250 ml, iv), given to 7 patients (44%).
 Keywords: folic acid, anemia, chronic kidney disease