A study of clinical profile of anaemia in elderly patients admitted at a tertiary care centre

Anaemia is one of the most important public health problem in developing countries like India, and is more prevalent in older population. Anaemia of any degree in elderly patients leads to significant morbidity and mortality, so the main purpose of the present study is to determine the clinical profile of anaemia in elderly. Materials and Methods: An observational was conducted on a cohort of 100 elderly patients of both sexes aged more than 60 years, admitted to wards of general medicine at Basaweshwara medical college and hospital (BMCHRC), Chitradurga hospital from July 2016 to May 2017. A detailed history, through clinical examination and relevant blood investigations such as peripheral smear and biochemical investigations were done in all patients. The severity of anaemia was graded according to the WHO classification. Results: Among 100 patients, 68 were male patients and 32 were females. Most of the patients (n=67) patients were between the age of 60 to 69 years, 20 patients between 70 to 79 years, very few (n=13) were above 80 years. Majority of patients had microcytic anaemia (43%) about 32% had normocytic anaemia and about 24% had macrocytic/ dimorphic anaemia and 1 patients had AML on peripheral smear. Out of 32 normocytic anaemia, 22 patients had anaemia of chronic disease, 7 patients had acute blood loss, 1 patient was diagnosed to have MDS and 2 had aplastic anaemia. Majority of anaemia of chronic disease were due to CKD (45%) and rest were due to tuberculosis, chronic liver disease and malignancy. Out of 43 Patients with microcytic anaemia 18 patients had anaemia due to chronic blood loss, 10 patients had anaemia of chronic disease and 15 patients were due to nutritional deficiencies. Conclusion: Anaemia in elderly population is a common problem and it is usually underdiagnosed, so a systematic approach in diagnosis and evaluation of anaemia in elderly population helps in better management and improve the quality of life of the elderly persons.