Relationship between anaemia, hypoalbuminaemia, and dietary lifestyle of the older adults attending a primary care clinic in Nigeria.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and severity of anaemia and assess the relationship between dietary lifestyle, hypoalbuminaemia, and anaemia of older persons.

Design: A cross-sectional hospital-based study.

Setting: This study was conducted in the General Outpatient Clinic, the primary care unit of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano, Nigeria.

Participants: A total of 378 patients aged ≥ 60 years who presented to the General Out-patient Clinic.

Main outcome measures: Prevalence and severity of anaemia, relationship between anaemia and hypoalbuminaemia, and dietary lifestyle of the participants.

Results: A total of 348 respondents completed the study. The mean age of respondents was 67.83 ±7.53 years, with female (60.9%) predominance. The prevalence of anaemia and hypoalbuminaemia were 42.2% and 17.8%, respectively. Hypoalbuminaemia (β=0.335, 95%CI=0.131-0.229, P<0.001), long duration of comorbidities (β= -0.179, 95%CI= -0.165-0.047, P<0.001), one full meal/day (β=0.130, 95%CI=0.224-1.879, P=0.013), and low monthly income (β=0.122, 95%CI=0.179-1.543, P=0.026) were the predictors of anaemia among the older persons in this study.

Conclusion: This study revealed a high prevalence of anaemia among older adults. The identified predictors, such as hypoalbuminaemia, long duration of comorbidities, reduced food intake and low monthly income, will be useful in developing guidelines and strategies for managing the condition in primary care settings and other similar sites.

Funding: None declared.