TITLE:
Anemia in the Elderly: Frequency and Etiologies at University Hospital Center of Point G
AUTHORS:
Sy Djibril, Traoré Abdel Kader, Kaya Assétou Soukho, Traoré Djenebou, Gozo Jean-Jonathan Cocou, Keïta Zakaria, Dembelé Ibrahima Amadou, Cissoko Mamadou, Keïta Kaly, Sangaré Barry Boubacar, Mallé Mamadou, Sy Seydou, Dembélé Mamadou, Traoré Hamar Alassane
KEYWORDS:
Anemia, Elderly, Internal Medicine, CHU Point G
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Clinical Diagnostics,
Vol.9 No.4,
November
15,
2019
ABSTRACT: 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 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 1st, 2018 to August
31st, 2018, covering all elderly patients. At least 65 years old
hospitalized and/or having consulted and presenting with anemia. Anemia was
defined as Hb 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 to
perform all examinations in the etiological research of anemia have a
significant impact on the rate of unexplained anemias.