[Anemia and functional incapacity at admission to a geriatric home].
| Autor: | Anía Lafuente BJ; Hospital Doctor Negrín, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria., Fernández-Burriel Tercero M, Suárez Almenara JL, Betancort Mastrángelo CC, Guerra Hernández L |
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| Jazyk: | Spanish; Castilian |
| Zdroj: | Anales de medicina interna (Madrid, Spain : 1984) [An Med Interna] 2001 Jan; Vol. 18 (1), pp. 9-12. |
| Abstrakt: | Aim: To ascertain the prevalence of anemia on admission to a nursing home, and to assess the relationship between the observed cases of anemia and the functional status of those subjects. Methods: We studied 198 subjects: 82 men (41%) aged 75.8 +/- 8.8 years, and 116 women (59%) aged 78.2 +/- 8.3 years. Anemia was diagnosed according to the criteria of the World Health Organization. The classification as non-disabled, or physically or mentally disabled, was done according to the Scales of the Spanish Red Cross. Results: Anemia was diagnosed in 36% of the males, being microcytic in 14%, normocytic in 83%, and macrocytic only in 3% of them. Among women there were 44% with anemia, which was microcytic in 16%, normocytic in 80%, and macrocytic in 4% of cases. The prevalence of anemia increased with age in both sexes. Among men, anemia was significantly associated (p = 0.013) with physical disability, whereas among women this association just fell off significance (p = 0.06). There was no association of anemia with mental disability. No association was found between serum concentrations of ferritin, vitamin B12, or folic acid, and the classification as non-disabled, or as physically or mentally disabled. Conclusions: Anemia is found in about 40% of the elderly on admission to our nursing home. Anemia is associated with older age and with physical disability, but not with mental disability. Whether anemia on admission entails a higher risk of disability onset during the stay in the nursing home remains to be elucidated. |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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