Prevalencia de anemia en adultos mayores no institucionalizados de lima metropolitana, en relación al nivel socioeconómico

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of anemia in elderly adults living in Metropolitan Lima (ML), classified according to socioeconomic status (SES). Methods: We sampled 300 elderly residents in Lima using a household sampling plan with uniform distribution in different SES groups. Hemoglobin (Hb) levels were assessed by photometric analysis of capillary blood samples using the HemoCue® system. Anemia was defined using reference values Hb<13 g/dL for males and Hb<12 g/dL for females. Results: The overall Hb (mean ± SD) for men in this elderly population in ML was 13.5±1.8 g/dL compared to 12.7±1.3 g/dL in women. No significant differences in the mean Hb concentration by sex (p= 0.205) were observed. Prevalence of anemia for men and women was 30.5% and 23.8%. The prevalence of anemia in the low, medium and high SES groups was 26.0% (17.3-34.7), 29.0% (20.0-38.0) and 25.0% (16.4-33.6), respectively, (p= 0.801). Conclusions: Anemia prevalence in this elderly metropolitan population was not different among different socioeconomic status groups.