Patterns of Anemia in Geriatric Age Group

Background: Anemia is a common concern in geriatric age group (more than 60 years of age)and can have significantly more severe complications than anemia in younger adults. WHO criteria determine anemia when the hemoglobin level is < 13 g/dl in male and < 12 g/dl in female. Aim: To study the proportion and morphological patterns of anemia in geriatric patients. Material and Methods: A hospital based study of patients of geriatric age group who have attended geriatric clinic and clinical OPD from November 2010 to April 2012 were studied.Detailed laboratory studies of diagnostic tests were done. Results: Out of 654 cases, 448 were found to be anemic amounting to 68.5 percentages. Proportion of anemia in males was 67.6%and in females it was 69.8 %. All the patterns of anemia based on peripheral smear were evident. Normocytic anemia was the commonest pattern constituting 79.4%. Conclusion: Con-firming the proportion and patterns of anemia is critical to direct the investigation for profiling the etiology since it is well known that the treatment of anemia goes a long way in improving the overall outcome and quality of life.