Prevalence of anemia in hospitalized patients aged 65 years and older in the geriatric department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital

Objective:To investigate the prevalence of anemia and the impact of anemia on the prognosis in hospitalized elderly patients in the geriatric department.Methods:To review 821 cases(male:540,female:281) of the patients aged 65 years and older admitted to the geriatric ward of the hospital from Jan 2000 to Jun 2006,the prevalence of the anemia was counted,and analyzed the potential causes of anemia and the impact of anemia on mortality.Results:According to the national criteria of anemia,the overall prevalence of anemia was 23.87%,with a prevalence of 25.19% for men and 21.35% for women.However,based on the World Health Organization(WHO) criteria,the overall prevalence of anemia was 43.00%,with a prevalence of 43.15% in men and 42.70% in women.Under the same criteria,there was no statistic difference in prevalence between men and women.According to the national and the WHO criteria,among the three groups of 65～74,75～84 and85 years old,the prevalence of anemia were significantly increased with age (P0.05,P0.01).According to the national and the WHO criteria,the overall mortality of the anemia group was significantly higher than the non-anemia group (36.73% and 8%,23.51% and 8.33%,P0.01).Conclusion:There was high prevalence of anemia in hospitalized elderly patients 65 years and older in the geriatric department.The mortality of anemia patients was higher than the non-anemia patients.These should be highly concerned by physicians.The causes of anemia should be actively searched,and the effective intervention for anemia should be taken.