Analysis of the prevalence of anemia and its influencing factors in the urban communities-dwelling elderly population in Beijing / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the prevalence of anemia and its influencing factors in the elderly population dwelling in urban communities in Beijing.Methods:A random cluster sampling method was adopted to select the elderly people of communities in Beijing, and cross-sectional research was conducted through questionnaire surveys, field tests and blood sample collection.The criteria for diagnosing anemia were from WHO standards, and the health evaluation indicators in the questionnaire survey included demographic data and eating habits, socio-economic information, information on enjoying health services, health and physical fitness and other information.Blood samples were drawn for routine blood tests and biochemical tests.Results:A total of 1 947 elderly people aged 65 years and above were investigated, including 789 males(40.5%)and 1 158 females(59.5%). Among the 1 947 survey subjects, 288 elderly people had anemia, with the prevalence of anemia of 14.79%(288/1 947). The prevalence of anemia was 16.35%(129/789)in males and 13.73%(159/1 158)in females.There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of anemia between male and female( χ2=2.760, P=0.097). Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors affecting anemia.The results showed that the higher age( OR=1.055, P=0.000), the higher frequency of meat-eating( OR=1.353, P=0.046), the lower frequency of fruit-eating( OR=0.759, P=0.048), the worse health status of cohabitants( OR=0.757, P=0.037), the lower BMI( OR=0.905, P=0.001)and the lower exercise frequency( OR=0.769, P=0.012)were correlated to the higher anemia risk in the elderly population dwelling in urban communities in Beijing. Conclusions:The prevalence of anemia is relatively high in the elderly in Beijing communities.According to our findings, older people should reduce the frequency of eating meat, while ensuring nutritional intake, increase the intake of fruits and take appropriate exercises to reduce the prevalence of anemia.