Prevalence of Anemia Among Adults at Capital Governorate in Kuwait

Abstract

Anemia, defined by low hemoglobin level, is recognized as a major public health problem that has a significant impact on lifelong health. In 2014, the Kuwait Nutrition Surveillance System stated that the prevalence of anemia was 9.7% in adult males and 32.7% in adult females. This study aimed to establish the prevalence and classification of anemia among adult patients attending the Capital Governorate hospital of Kuwait. It is a retrospective record-based study. The study included patients (aged 18-60 years) attending Amiri Hospital OPD and primary care centers affiliated from January 2014 to December 2018. Hemoglobin levels were taken from the Laboratory Information System (LIS) and were classified as mild, moderate, and severe based on WHO classification. This study showed that anemia was more prevalent among the Kuwaiti population than non-Kuwaitis. The maximum percentage of anemic people belonged to the moderate and mild range of anemia; a very low percentage was found in the severe range. The incidence of anemia was significantly higher among females compared to males (16-17% of females and 4-5% of males in the moderate range; 16-18% of females and 10-11% of males in the mild range; 2-3.3% of females and 0.8-1.1% of males in the severe range). Age-wise comparison of data showed that anemia was more common among the older age groups. Prevalence of anemia is quite high in Kuwait; therefore, more studies and interventions are needed for certain vulnerable groups-specifically for women and people from older age groups-to reduce the risk of anemia.