A study on prevalence and evaluation of anemia among in-patients in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Anemia is a public health problem that affects populations of both developed and developing countries, with major consequences for human health as well as social and economic development. It occurs at all stages of the life cycle. Thus, appropriate pharmacological measures have to be adopted for the better treatment and control of anemia. A prospective randomized interventional study was conducted among 146 anemic patients for six months. The Total Iron Deficit for each patient was calculated according to Ganzoni Formula. The WHO and TID results were compared by Chi Square test statistics. Iron Deficiency Anemia was found to be more prevalent (76.71%) in the study group. Patients in the male category were found to be more severely anemic and iron deficient than the female in the study group. WHO categorization of anemia reveals that majority of the patients was moderately anemic. The TID evaluation reveals majority of the study population had TID in the range of 1000-1500 mg. The comparison of WHO and TID categorization exhibited a high association (p=0.0) in our study. The drug utilization patterns reveal oral iron preparations were utilized more commonly. Patient iron requirements can be predicted by TID values and not by the Hb level alone, since weight is also an important parameter taken into consideration. Based on the TID values, the therapeutic plan can be worked out such that an increased cost of therapy is prevented and there is reduced risk of adverse events.