Characterization of Anaemia in Patients with CKD at the National Institute for Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation

Abstract

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the third leading cause of mortality and affect 5-10 million people worldwide. Decreased production of erythropoietin (EPO) caused by renal damage leads to anaemia in CKD patients.Objectives: To characterize anaemia in CKD patients and assess severity, types and factors associated with anaemia of CKD. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 116 patients attending clinics of NINDT using a consecutive sampling method. An interviewer administered questionnaire was used to obtain information from patients and disease related information was obtained from individual clinic records. Full blood count results of patients were obtained from the NINDT laboratory and blood picture assessment was performed by a consultant haematologist. Results: Majority (68%) were males and more than 1/3 (35.3%) were in CKD stage 3. Proportion of anaemia was 54.3% with a mean haemoglobin concentration of 11.4 g/dL (SD±2.15). Presence of anaemia was highest in CKD stage 3 (30.2%) followed by stage 4 (27.0%), 5 (25.4%). Characterization of red blood cell morphology revealed normochromic normocytic in 75.0%, hypochromic microcytic (10.3%), dual population (3.8%), macrocytic (0.9%) in the population. The common red cell abnormalities with >5% significance were acanthocytes and pencil cells (6.9%). Conclusions: Prevalence of anaemia increased significantly with advanced CKD stages (χ2=8.053, p=0.005). Factors with significant association with anaemic status and CKD stage were EPO usage and dialysis treatment (p<0.01). Further research is crucial to assess the burden of anaemia among CKD patients in Sri Lanka in order to develop policies in effective anaemia management strategies. (PDF) Characterization of anaemia in patients with chronic kidney disease at the National Institute for Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344157334_Characterization_of_anaemia_in_patients_with_chronic_kidney_disease_at_the_National_Institute_for_Nephrology_Dialysis_and_Transplantation [accessed Sep 24 2020].