Prevalence of anemia in Brazilian adults and elderly

Abstract

Objective: To verify the prevalence of anemia in Brazilian adults and elderly. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study consisted of 8,060 subjects aged over 18 years old in all Brazilian states. We used data from laboratory tests of the Brazilian National Health Survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde – PNS). The following indicators obtained by erythrogram were used: hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and red cell distribution width (RDW). Reference values of the World Health Organization (WHO) were used to determine anemia, which considers hemoglobin levels below 13.0 g/dL for men and less than 12.0 g/dL for women. Sociodemographic information was obtained by interview. Results: The prevalence of anemia among Brazilian adults and elderly was 9.9%. Higher prevalence of anemia and more severe cases were found among women, elderly, people with low schooling, black skin color and residents of the North and Northeast regions. Normocytic normochromic anemia was the most common type of anemia (56.0%). Conclusion: The anemia prevalence found in the study was in agreement with the literature. It must be stressed that higher anemia prevalence was found in disadvantaged and older population. Considering the increase of the population over 60 years of age, interventions to prevent and treat anemia among adults and elderly is imperative in the health service network.