title: [Anemia in the elderly. Urgent need for guidelines].
abstract: The prevalence of anemia in the elderly is high and can reach among independent community-dwelling persons > 20% and among hospitalized geriatric patients up to 40%. Anemia in the elderly has numerous causes rather than being clearly age related. Although it is widely acknowledged that anemia influences morbidity and mortality in geriatric patients in a negative manner, guidelines concerning diagnostics and therapeutic steps do not exist in Germany. We present a work-up of guidelines of German (AWMF) and international (G-I-N, NGC) specialists' societies dealing with the subject "anemia." Regarding the demographic changes with a growing population of geriatric patients with anemia, the development of a national (German) guideline for an ethically acceptable and cost-effective management of anemia in the elderly is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Geriatrie, St.-Marien-Hospital Köln, Kunibertskloster 11-13, 50668, Köln, Deutschland. Gabriele.Roehrig@st-marien-hospital.de
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Röhrig
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000740:Anemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000592:standards*; D005858:Germany; D006405:Hematology / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic