Anemia in the Elderly: Frequency and Etiologies at University Hospital Center of Point G

Introduction: Older people are exposed to particular health problems that must be taken into account, including anemia defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in people aged 65 and over hemoglobin < 13 g/dl in men and < 12 g/dl in women. Objectives: To determine the frequency of anemia, to describe its clinical and paraclinical aspects, and to determine the etiologies. Material and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with prospective data collection that took place in the Department of Internal Medicine of the Point G CHU in Mali from January 1^st, 2018 to August 31^st, 2018, covering all elderly patients. At least 65 years old hospitalized and/or having consulted and presenting with anemia. Anemia was defined as Hb < 13 g/dl in men and < 12 g/dl in women (WHO definition). Biological markers were collected at admission. Results: Anemia was observed in 42 patients in 160 elderly patients, a prevalence of 26%, the age of our patients ranged from 65 to 90 years. The sex ratio was 1.33. Fifty percent (50%) of the patients had high blood pressure as antecedents. Weight loss was found in 69% of cases; 47.6% of patients had dyspnea on admission. Tachycardia was the physical sign associated with anemia present in 85.7% of them. The mean hemoglobin level was 9.2 g/dl ± 2.03: thus 50% of the subjects had microcytic and or hypochromic anemia. The etiologies found were infectious in 31.0% of cases, inflammatory in 31.0% of cases, renal in 14.2% of cases. Chronic hemorrhage, acute haemorrhage, hemolysis accounted for 2.4% each. We observed 9.5% of unexplained causes. Conclusion: The frequency of anemia is high. Nearly half of the geriatric population has anemia. The lack of means and the nonperformance of the technical platform