Unmasking Anemia: Insights into Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidities in Hospitalized Elderly Patients

Abstract

Background: The elderly population is expanding globally, presenting unique healthcare challenges, particularly in resource-limited settings like Pakistan, where geriatric medicine is not yet a recognized specialty. Anemia is a common health concern among older adults, associated with increased morbidity, functional decline, and mortality. This study explores the severity of anemia in hospitalized elderly anemic patients and its association with comorbid conditions.

Methods: This was a descriptive study conducted at Medical Department of Bacha Khan Medical Complex (BKMC) Swabi from November 2022 to January 2023, involving 71 newly diagnosed anemic patients of age 60 years and above. Patients who had critical illness, had a recent surgery and were on treatment for anemia were excluded from the study. Data collection involved a review of the medical history, laboratory analysis and categorization of hemoglobin into different categories by WHO standards. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20 and R version 4.1.

Results: The mean age of patients was 68 ± 8 years and 50.7% of them were male. The average Hb level was recorded 7.1 ± 2.2 g/dL and Severe anemia (Hb <8 g/dL) was observed in 69.0% of patients. Most patients (74.6%) had at least one comorbidity, while 25.4% had isolated anemia. Chronic diseases were the most prevalent (47.9%), followed by infectious diseases (12.7%), cardiovascular diseases (8.5%), and neurological diseases (7.2%). The "Others" category was made up of 28.2% of the patients, meaning that the nature of comorbid conditions was very diverse. The lowest level of hemoglobin occurred in patients suffering from hematological and gastrointestinal diseases.

Conclusion: Chronic and infectious diseases predominate the causes of anemia in elderly patients. There was a significant variation in severity across comorbidity groups. The findings underscore the importance of addressing underlying comorbid conditions for effective anemia management in this vulnerable population, hospital setting. The severity varied significantly between the comorbidity groups. Underlying comorbid conditions must be addressed in order to adequately manage anemia in this susceptible population.