Prevalence of anemia in type 2 diabetes and role of renal involvement

Anemia is more common and more severe in diabetics compared to nondiabetic chronic kidney disease patients. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of anemia and the contribution of level of nephropathy to anemia in type 2 diabetic patients. A total of 1,962 patients with type 2 diabetes were evaluated for anemia and biochemical profile. 19.6% of the pa-tients had anemia. 38.1% of patients had albuminuria, 8.1% had moderate (creatinine clearance (CrCl) <60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ) and 31.4% had mild (CrCl = 60-90 mL/min) renal impairment. Dia-betic patients with moderate renal impairment had significantly more anemia than diabetics with mild renal failure (30% vs. 9%, P = 0.000 Albuminuria was also associated with anemia (8.4% vs. 5.7%, P = 0.000). Cardiovascular disease and retinopathy were also more frequent in diabetic patients with anemia (P = 0.01 and 0.001, respectively). In conclusion, anemia is a highly prevalent finding in Iranian type 2 diabetic patients. Any degree of renal impairment and albumi-uria are the greatest risk factors for anemia in these patients.