Hospital-Acquired Anemia
Peerapon Wong MD*, Tanin Intragumtornchai MD**
Affiliation : * Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok ** Hematology Unit, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University
Objective : The incidence and etiologies of hospital-acquired anemia has not been well defined. A prospective
study was conducted to determine the incidence and etiologies of hospital-acquired anemia developed in
patients admitted in the medical ward of a tertiary care university hospital.
Materials and Methods : All non-anemic (hemoglobin (Hb) > 13 g/dl in male, > 12 g/dl in female) patients who
were admitted to the general medical wards for at least 1 week, between March 2001 to October 2001, were
included in the present study. Outcome of interest was anemia developed during hospital stay. The total
volume of blood collected for investigations were recorded.
Results : Of the 98 evaluable patients, 64 (65.3%) developed anemia. Thirty-five percent of the patients had
mild anemia (Hb > 10.0 g/dl) and 7% had severe anemia (Hb < 8.0 g/dl). Anemia of chronic disease was the
most common cause found in 57.4% of anemic patients. Mean total volume of blood collected for investigation
was higher in the anemic compared with the non-anemic group (147.0 ml vs. 52.0 ml, p < 0.05). Total volume
of investigational blood also correlated significantly with degree of anemia (r = 0.638, p < 0.05).
Conclusion : Anemia was a common complication occurring in almost two-thirds of patients admitted to the
hospital. Even though anemia of chronic disease was the leading cause, investigational blood loss was also
an important contributing factor.
Keywords : Anemia, Hospital-acquired, Anemia of chronic disease, Investigational blood loss
