OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of anemia and of its types in hospitalized patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.METHODS: This was a descriptive, longitudinal study involving pulmonary tuberculosis inpatients at one of two tuberculosis referral hospitals in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We evaluated body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfold thickness (TST), arm muscle area (AMA), ESR, mean corpuscular volume, and red blood cell distribution width (RDW), as well as the levels of C-reactive protein, hemoglobin, transferrin, and ferritin.RESULTS: We included 166 patients, 126 (75.9%) of whom were male. The mean age was 39.0 ± 10.7 years. Not all data were available for all patients: 18.7% were HIV positive; 64.7% were alcoholic; the prevalences of anemia of chronic disease and iron deficiency anemia were, respectively, 75.9% and 2.4%; and 68.7% had low body weight (mean BMI = 18.21 kg/m2). On the basis of TST and AMA, 126 (78.7%) of 160 patients and 138 (87.9%) of 157 patients, respectively, were considered malnourished. Anemia was found to be associated with the following: male gender (p = 0.03); low weight (p = 0.0004); low mean corpuscular volume (p = 0.03);high RDW (p = 0; 0003); high ferritin (p = 0.0005); and high ESR (p = 0.004). We also found significant differences between anemic and non-anemic patients in terms of BMI (p = 0.04), DCT (p = 0.003), and ESR (p < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS: In this sample, high proportions of pulmonary tuberculosis patients were classified as underweight and malnourished, and there was a high prevalence of anemia of chronic disease. In addition, anemia was associated with high ESR and malnutrition.