Patterns of Geriatric Anemia – A Clinicopathological Study

Abstract

Background : Anemia is a common condition in elderly especially in hospitalized geriatric patients and is known to be associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The UN agreed cut off to refer to the older population is 60years and above. Anemia in the elderly is defined as a haemoglobin concentration below12 gm/dl in women and below 13gm/dl in men. Objectives: To study the grade and patterns of anemia in Geriatric age group of both sex with clinicopathological correlation. Materials and Methods: It is a Prospective study of 2 years from May 2018 to April 2020 carried out in KIMS, Hubbali. A statistically significant sample size was 400. Results: Among the total geriatric cases of 400, males were 233 (58.25%) and females were 167 (41.75%). In which majority of them were in the age group between 60-69 years that is 237 (59.25%) cases, followed by 121 (30.25%) cases, 38 (9.5%) cases and 4 (1%) cases were in the age group between 70-79 years, 80-89 and above 90 years respectively. The study showed that majority of the cases belonged to the Grade 1 anemia (69.25%). On smear examination most common morphological pattern was Normocytic Normochromic Anemia (75%), followed by Microcytic Hypochromic Anemia (18%). On clinical history correlation, majority of them were asymptomatic 52% and 38% of cases presented with fatigue. Conclusion: The study concludes that diagnosing different morphological patterns of geriatric anemia and its clinical correlation helps in reducing the morbidity and mortality of geriatrics related to anemia and also facilitate the clinicians to improve the treatment protocols and prophylactic therapy. Keywords Geriatrics, Patterns, Anemia