DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2014.v02i06.137

Pages: 3536-3541

Background: Anaemia remains a major public health problem worldwide, particularly in developing countries, and is associated with significant morbidity and reduced quality of life. Understanding its clinical and etiological profile is essential for appropriate diagnosis and management. Objective: To evaluate the clinical profile, hematological characteristics, morphological patterns, and etiology of anaemia among patients attending a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Medicine, Private tertiary level hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, from January to December 2014. A total of 138 adult patients with anaemia were enrolled. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, clinical presentation, hematological parameters, morphological classification, and etiology were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Associations between categorical variables were assessed using the Chi-square test. Results: The mean age of the participants was 42.8±17.6 years, and 57.2% were female. Generalized weakness (89.1%), fatigue (81.2%), and shortness of breath (62.3%) were the most common presenting symptoms. Moderate anaemia was the predominant severity category (47.1%), followed by severe (29.0%) and mild anaemia (23.9%). The mean hemoglobin level was 8.2±2.1 g/dL. Microcytic hypochromic anaemia was the most common morphological pattern (47.8%), followed by normocytic normochromic anaemia (31.2%). Iron deficiency anaemia was the leading etiology (42.0%), followed by anaemia of chronic disease (20.3%) and megaloblastic anaemia (14.5%). Significant associations were observed between morphological classification and etiology (p<0.001), and between severity and etiology of anaemia (p=0.002). Conclusion: Iron deficiency anaemia was the most common cause of anaemia, and microcytic hypochromic anaemia was the predominant morphological pattern. Morphological classification and severity were significantly associated with the