Evaluation of hematological parameters and etiology of anemia in geriatric patients aged 90 and over

We aimed to examine the hemogram parameters and the etiology of anemia in geriatric patients, to gain an idea about the precautions that should be taken earlier, and to determine the reference range in hemogram parameters for people over 90 years of age. Age, gender and complete blood count parameters of 1000 geriatric patients aged 90 years and over who applied to Fırat University Hospital between October 2017 and October 2019, leukocyte, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, platelet, hemoglobin, mean erythrocyte volume, mean platelet volume values were analyzed retrospectively using reference ranges specified by Fırat University Hospital laboratory. The etiological causes found in people with anemia were recorded. İn the study, 685 of 1000 patients were women and 315 were men. The number of people with anemia was 417. Although the Hgb limit was lower in women, anemia was found higher (%61.2) than in men (38.8%). Of the patients with anemia, 371 had chronic disease, 115 had iron deficiency, 63 had B12 deficiency, 18 had folic acid deficiency, and 40 had anemia of unknown cause. Chronic disease was seen to be the most common in the etiology of anemia. Cardiac and vascular system diseases (CVSD) were the most common chronic diseases. Eosinophil levels were found to be high in patients with respiratory system diseases. Lymphopenia was less common in patients with cerebrovascular accident (CVA) (p = 0.028). In patients with anemia, lymphocyte, MCV, and neutrophil values were lower than those of patients without anemia. The platelet values of patients with anemia were higher than those of those without anemia. It was observed that there was a negative correlation between the platelet count and MPV level. In this study, we showed that the frequency of chronic disease increases above 90 years old and main causes of the anemia are generally these chronic diseases. This group of geriatric population is a very small group of total population but with the increasing life expectancy this group will be larger and there is limited data about this population. This study offers an insight into hematological pathologies in this age group. New studies are needed in this geriatric population. Keywords: Geriatrics, hemogram, anemia