Questionnaire for early detection of occult anemia.
OBJECTIVE
Anemia is a common condition that is often missed. We aimed to devise a questionnaire for detection of occult anemia.


METHODS
A questionnaire survey was done of 442 new gastroenterology outpatients to detect potential symptoms of anemia. Then hematology tests were performed and anemia was defined by World Health Organization criteria. Data were analyzed by the stepwise logistic regression method to determine adjusted odds ratios and extract relevant items. After further selection of variables, the sensitivity and specificity of three potential questionnaires were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curves.


RESULTS
Seven items were selected and a new questionnaire was devised to detect occult anemia. It showed a sensitivity of 70% and also a specificity of 70% when back-tested on the subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
This new questionnaire may be useful for detecting occult anemia.
Koizumi
Wasaburo
W
Department of Gastroenterology, Kitasato University East Hospital, 2-1-1 Asamizodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 228-8520 Japan. koizumi@med.kitasato-u.ac.jp
Saigenji
Katsunori
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000740:Anemia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors