title: Incidence of anemia in older Koreans: community-based cohort study.
abstract: Most epidemiologic data are related to the prevalence of anemia, and there is little information regarding the incidence or etiology of newly diagnosed anemia in older people. The purpose of this study was to define the incidence and characteristics of anemia in the elderly population of Korea. Three hundred thirty-two independent, community-living, elderly persons aged 60 years and older were enrolled, and laboratory tests including iron profiles were performed. The mean age was 72+/-4.8 years and the mean hemoglobin was 13.4+/-1.1g/dl. During the follow-up period of 3 years, 24 subjects (3 males and 21 females) were newly diagnosed with anemia, which led to a 3-year incidence of 7.2% (24/332). Among the 24 subjects with new-onset anemia, iron deficiency anemia (IDA) was diagnosed in 5 subjects, while anemia of chronic disease (ACD) was detected in 8 subjects. Underlying illnesses were diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, renal insufficiency, hypothyroidism and malignancy. In those subjects with new-onset anemia, the serum iron, ferritin, transferrin saturation and albumin were lower than in the normal group. In conclusion, the 3-year incidence of anemia among Korean elderly people was determined to be 7.2%, and ACD was the most commonly defined cause of anemia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Oncology-Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Guro Hospital, Korea University Medical Center, #97, Gurodong-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul 152-703, South Korea. kjs6651@kumc.or.kr
authors.forename: Chul Won
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Juneyoung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kyong Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: In Keun
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Seok Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Byung Soo
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Yeul Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jun Suk
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution