Clinicopathological profile of anaemia in geriatric patients

Background: Anaemia is a common problem in both elderly men and women of age greater than 65 years, and in men, the haemoglobin concentration below 13gm/dl and in women below 12 gm/dl respectively. Aim: To evaluate clinicopathological characteristics of anaemia in elderly patients. Materials and Methods: This study was a cross sectional study conducted on patients who were above 60 years of age, the males should have haemoglobin levels of less than 13 gm/dl and females should have haemoglobin levels of less than 12 gm/dl. Results: A total of 200 cases of anaemia were found in elderly patients. In the present study, males (142) were dominant in numbers compared to females (58) which constitute to males were 71% and females were 29%. The mean age of elderly patients was found to be 68.5 years, with maximum patients in 61-71 age groups. The age group of patients ranged from 61-100 years. The cases of normocytic normochromic constituted 99 (49.5%), microcytic hypochromic constituted 40 (20%), normocytic hypochromic constituted 10 (5%), macrocytic constituted 25 (12.5%) and dimorphic constituted 26 (13%). The dominant presentation was considered among which the most common presentation was generalised weakness which constituted to 35% (70) followed by breathlessness which constituted to 27.5% and other presentations such as headache, giddiness, abdominal pain, loss of weight, loss of appetite, diabetes were noted. Radiological findings showed that the bilateral renal disease which constituted to 90 (45%) and chronic kidney disease which constituted to 42 (21%) were the highest. Conclusion: In geriatric patients, anaemia is a common disease. It leads to severe morbidity and mortality given the age, if anemia is ignored or not investigated properly. Aggressive treatment of anemia in elderly patients can prevent severe morbidity followed by timely detection.