Frequency of anemia in patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis affects millions of people across the globe annually. Pakistan is ranked 5th among the leading TB countries in the world. Anemia is a common observation among TB patients with the multifactorial phenomenon. The present study aimed to determine the frequency of anemia in patients with pulmonary TB and its classification as per the severity and morphological characteristics.

Methodology: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at DHQ Hospital Timergara, Lower Dir. A total of 109 TB patients were enrolled and underwent physical and systemic examination. Blood samples were collected to estimate complete blood counts (CBC), liver and renal function tests (LFT; RFT), serum albumin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Abdominal ultrasound was performed when any organomegaly was suspected. Hemoglobin was estimated using an automated analyzer (SYSMEX-SP100), and it was repeated via manual method among doubted cases. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients before inclusion, and the collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.0.

Results: There was a female majority (54%) in the studied sample, with a mean age of 38 ± 15.3 years. Majority of them belonged to low socioeconomic status (80%). Moreover, 43% of them were from Dir Lower, 30% from Dir Upper, while the remaining were from Bajaur district, Chitral, and Malakand Swat districts. Anemia was found in 82.56% of the enrolled TB patients. Most patients were moderately weak (Hb < 10 g/dl > 7 g/dl), and microcytic anemia was found in more than 80% of the anemic patients. CRP level was raised in 70% of these patients, and there was hypoalbuminemia in 80%. Furthermore, females were more anemic than males.

Conclusion: In our study, anemia was prevalent in TB patients, specifically microcytic anemia. Hence, TB patients must be monitored for dietary deficiencies and/or inflammatory modulators to avoid such complications.