- Title
- Long-term mortality risks associated with mild anaemia in older persons: the Busselton health study
- Creator
- Chalmers, Kerry A.; Knuiman, Matthew W.; Divitini, Mark L.; Bruce, David G.; Olynyk, John K.; Milward, Elizabeth A.
- Relation
- Age and Ageing Vol. 41, Issue 6, p. 759-764
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afs150
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2012
- Description
- Background: up to 25% of older people in the USA and other Western countries are anaemic by World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The objective of this study was to examine the long-term relationships of haemoglobin concentration with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a community-based sample of Australian adults surveyed in 1978. Methods: a community survey of 2,194 adults aged 40+ years in Busselton, Western Australia in 1978 with mortality follow-up to 2001. Cox regression models were used to investigate the relationships of haemoglobin as a continuous measure and anaemia by WHO criteria (women <12 g/dl (7.5 mmol/l); men <13 g/dl (8.1 mmol/l)) with all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality. Results: anaemia was predominantly mild (>10 g/dl) and normocytic. There was an increased risk of death from all causes and from cancer for men with low haemoglobin. Cancers were predominantly of the prostate and genito-urinary organs, and to a lesser extent the gastrointestinal tract. There was no increased risk of all cause or cancer death in women. Conclusion: mild, normocytic anaemia is associated with survival reductions in middle-aged and older men, where it often occurs with prostate, gastrointestinal and other cancers, and should be investigated to exclude treatable causes.
- Subject
- anaemia; haemoglobin; mortality; ageing; Busselton Health Study; older people
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1311514
- Identifier
- uon:22222
- Identifier
- ISSN:0002-0729
- Rights
- This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Age and Ageing following peer review. The version of record Chalmers KA, Knuiman MW, Divitini ML, Bruce DG, Olynyk JK, Milward AE, 'Long-term mortality risks associated with mild anaemia in older persons: The Busselton health study', Age and Ageing, 41 759-764 (2012) is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afs150
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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