© 2019 |Published by Scholars Middle East Publishers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 363 Saudi Journal of Pathology and Microbiology Abbreviated Key Title: Saudi J Pathol Microbiol ISSN 2518-3362 (Print) |ISSN 2518-3370 (Online) Scholars Middle East Publishers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Journal homepage: http://scholarsmepub.com/sjpm/ Original Research Article Etiological Spectrum of Anaemia of Elderly Dr. Rajat Jain 1* , Dr. Mrinalini Kotru 2 , Dr. Neha Garg 2 , Dr. Bhawna Mahajan 3 , Dr. Malvika Shastri 2 , Dr. Satendra Sharma 2 , Dr. Meera Sikka 2 , Dr. Ashish Goel 4 1 Senior Resident Pathology, University College of Medical Sciences, Gate No:2, Tahirpur Rd, Dilshad Garden, New Delhi, Delhi 110095, India 2 Department of Pathology, University College of Medical Sciences, Gate No:2, Tahirpur Rd, Dilshad Garden, New Delhi, Delhi 110095, India 3 Department of Biochemistry, GB Pant Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, 1, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, 64 Khamba, New Delhi, Delhi 110002, India 4 Department of Medicine, University College of Medical Sciences, Gate No:2, Tahirpur Rd, Dilshad Garden, New Delhi, Delhi 110095, India *Corresponding author: Dr. Rajat Jain | Received: 19.04.2019 | Accepted: 27.04.2019 | Published: 30.04.2019 DOI:10.21276/sjpm.2019.4.4.16 Abstract Purpose: The elderly population has been rising in recent years all over the globe. Anemia of Elderly (AOE) or geriatric anemia in old age group is being widely observed. Independent of its cause anemia has shown to affect physical function among elderly. Various studies have shown the prevalence of anemia in elderly aged >65 years as approximately 10% which rises to 50% in individuals aged >80 years. The study was conducted with the aim to evaluate and study hematological profile and etiological spectrum of anemia in elderly. Method: It was a cross-sectional study conducted from November 2014 to February 2016.Elderly anemics aged 60 years and above visiting Department of Medicine, GTB hospital were evaluated and studied. Results: Nutritional anemia was the most common cause of anemia in elderly. Folic acid deficiency was the most common nutritional deficiency. Conclusions: Nutritonal anemia is the most common cause of anemia in elderly living in low to medium group countires while Nutritional anemia, ACD and unexplained anemia are in equal proportion in west.Folic acid reserves deplete early in elderly and their monitoring can help in predicting poor dietary intake in at risk elderly and those living in senior citizen homes. Keywords: Anemia, Elderly, Etiology, Folate, Vitamin B12, UnexplainedAnemia, ACD. Copyright @ 2019: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial use (NonCommercial, or CC-BY-NC) provided the original author and sources are credited. INTRODUCTION The elderly population has been rising in recent years all over the globe. In 2009, it constituted 11% of the world population and 7% of the Indian population. It is estimated that these figures are likely to reach up to 22% of the world and 20% of the Indian population respectively by 2050 [1]. Geriatric medicine is an upcoming field bringing along with new challenges which require significant advance planning and management. Researchers need to find solution to reduce physical and cognitive disability in older ages to help tackle the transforming demography and illnesses.Nutrition has a wide impact on health of elderly. Deficient nutrition is a well known cause of anemia which is found to increase morbidity and mortality in elderly. Abuse and neglect is also another common social problem affecting health of elderly. Of the various non-communicable diseases in elderly, Anemia of Elderly (AOE) or geriatric anemia is being widely observed. Guidelines for the diagnosis andmanagement of anemia in older adults are lacking and this poses difficulty for clinicians. Epidemiological studies clearly link anemia with morbidityand mortality in older adults [2]. Independent of its cause anemia has shown to affect physical function among elderly. The studies have demonstrated that anemia increases risk of physical disability and is associated with impaired performance and muscle weakness. Also two independent studies found inverse gradient of risk between Haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and physical outcomes with persons having Hb concentrations 0.1- 1g/dl above anemia cutoff showing significantly more decline than those with higher Hb concentrations [3]. Various studies have shown the prevalence of anemia in elderly aged >65 years as approximately 10% which rises to 50% in individuals aged >80 years [2, 4]. AOE is usually consistently mild with prevalence of severe anemia being less than 0.5% [4]. Etiologically important causes identified are anemia due to nutritional deficiencies, anemia due to inflammation and anemia due to unexplained causes (UA) [5].