Prevalence and characteristics of anemia in the elderly: Cross‐sectional study of three urban Korean population samples

Abstract

We conducted a prospective study to assess the prevalence and clinical characteristics of anemia and to define the risk factors for anemia in older Koreans. From October 2002 to November 2002, 1,254 subjects over the age of 60 years were selected from a crosssectional study. All subjects underwent a complete medical history taking and laboratory testing, which included; a complete blood cell count, reticulocyte, liver and renal function tests, lipid profiles, and iron profiles. The median age was 70 years old (range, 60-95 years). The mean levels of hemoglobin (mean ± SD) were 14.5 ± 1.4 g/dL in men and 13.0 ± 1.1 g/dL in women, and the overall prevalence of anemia was 13.6% (171/1,254): 9.9% (27/273) in men and 14.7% (144/981) in women. We found that the prevalence of anemia differed significantly between those of age 60-69 and 70-79 years (P < 0.0001), those of age 60-69 and ‡80 (P < 0.0001), and those of age 70-79 and ‡80 (P = 0.0474). Hemoglobin levels were significantly lower in subjects ‡80 years old. By logistic regression testing, female sex, old age, lower albumin level, higher creatinine level, and lower body mass index were identified as independent risk factors of anemia in elderly Koreans. In conclusion, the overall prevalence of anemia in our study group was 13.6% (171/1,254), and this increased with age. Am.

Study of Anaemia in Correlation with Hematological Parameters among Adults in a Tertiary Care Centre of North-East India

“…However, while postmenopausal estrogen levels decrease, there is an increase in red cell mass to levels that are similar to those in males, which makes it unreasonable to use different criteria for anemia in each gender 21,22 . In our study 380(39.92%) were males and 572(60.08%) were females, which was higher than other studies like in the Kaur et al 23 and Nasrin A. Qureshi et al 24 , where there was no statistical difference in both gender, and in contrast to the Chul won choi et al study in which 11.4% were males and 2.1% were females 25 . In our study Microcytic hypochromic anemia 56.05% (male) and 50.35% (female) is the predominant type of anemia as seen in Gerardo et al studies 26 , Nasrin A. Qureshi et al and S Patel et al 27 study in which microcytic hypochromic anemia was seen in 72%.This finding was in contrast to the Kaur et al 23 in which normocytic normochromic anemia is the predominant type, 56%.…”

Improved Prevalence of Anemia and Nutritional Status among Japanese Elderly Participants in the National Health and Nutritional Survey Japan, 2003-2009

“…[22] For Korean elderly population with median age of 70 years, the prevalence of anemia was 13.6%. [23] These previous reports [4,5,[21][22][23] have not investigated the effect of nutrient intakes, although these differences may be influenced by dietary factors such as dietary iron intake and/or intake of iron supplements. In fact, iron intakes in the current study were much lower compared with those in the US [15].…”

Study of anemia in geriatric population: a hospital based study in Marathwada region, Maharashtra, India

“…The most common pattern of anemia in their study has been found to be normocytic anemia amounting to 93.5% and 3.5% of them being microcytic, and 3% were macrocytic anemias. 3,5 In the present study, percentage of anemia in males was 64.74% and in females 70.58%. All the types of anemia based on peripheral smear were evident, normocytic being the commonest constituting 78.86%, followed by microcytic hypochromic 11.11%, macrocytic 5.96% and dimorphic 4.07%.…”

“…Choi CW et al in their study of anemia in elderly have observed 171 out of 1254 patients to be anemic. 5 Out of them 144 (11.4%) have been women and 27 (2.1%) men. A significant difference in prevalence of anemia has been found among the age 60-69 years, 70-79 year and 80 and above years.…”