Potential Impact of Anemia and Iron Deficiency in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients and its Relation to Serum Levels of Erythropoietin

ABSTRACT

Background: Little is known about iron deficiency (ID) and anemia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To study the prevalence and treatment of anemia in patients of COPD and to check the hemoglobin level in all patients with COPD and to assess the quality of life (QOL) by administering the questionnaire in anemic COPD patients and comparing it with nonanemic COPD patients. Methods: We examined the subjects and administered a questionnaire based on dyspnea score to assess the impact of anemia on quality of life in patients of COPD. A total of 250 COPD patients were enrolled in the study, in that 62 patients were anemic and 188 patients were nonanemic in COPD patients. Results: The proportion of patients of nonanemic was found to be higher as compared with anemia having modified medical research council (mMRC) grade I (35.71% vs 20.00%), grade II (40.48% vs 26.67%), and grade IV (11.90% vs 6.67%), while the proportion of patients of anemia was found to be higher than that of nonanemic having mMRC grade III (46.67% vs 11.90%). Difference in mMRC grade of patients of anemia and nonanemic was found to be statistically highly significant. Out of 250 patients of COPD, hemoglobin levels of 62 (26.32%) were found to be below normal levels and were diagnosed as anemic and classified as anemia in the present study, while hemoglobin levels of the rest 188 (73.68%) patients were found to be normal and were classified as nonanemic. Prevalence of anemia in COPD = 24.87%. Conclusion: Anemia occurs frequently in patients of COPD and is associated with poor quality of life and increased morbidity in the form of number of exacerbations and hospital admissions. Correcting anemia in these patients may improve their clinical outcomes: