title: A retrospective study investigating the incidence and predisposing factors of hospital-acquired anemia.
abstract: Hospitalized patients frequently have considerable volumes of blood removed for diagnostic testing which could lead to the development of hospital-acquired anemia. Low hemoglobin levels during hospitalization may result in significant morbidity for patients with underlying cardiorespiratory and other illnesses. We performed a retrospective study and data was collected using a chart review facilitated through an electronic medical record. A total of 479 patients who were not anemic during admission were included in analysis. In our study, we investigated the incidence of HAA and found that, between admission and discharge, 65% of patients dropped their hemoglobin by 1.0 g/dL or more, and 49% of patients developed anemia. We also found that the decrease in hemoglobin between admission and discharge did not differ significantly with smaller phlebotomy tubes. In multivariate analysis, we found that patients with longer hospitalization and those with lower BMI are at higher risk of developing HAA. In conclusion, our study confirms that hospital-acquired anemia is common. More aggressive strategies such as reducing the frequency of blood draws and expanding the use of smaller volume tubes for other laboratory panels may be helpful in reducing the incidence of HAA during hospitalization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI, USA ; Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA ; Division of Hematology Oncology, Michigan State University and Breslin Cancer Center, 401 W. Greenlawn Avenue, Lansing, MI 48910, USA.
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Kurniali
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI, USA ; Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Curry
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI, USA ; Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Keith W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6754-8519
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Velletri
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology Oncology, Michigan State University and Breslin Cancer Center, 401 W. Greenlawn Avenue, Lansing, MI 48910, USA.
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shaik
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology Oncology, Michigan State University and Breslin Cancer Center, 401 W. Greenlawn Avenue, Lansing, MI 48910, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI, USA ; Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: McCormack