Mild Anemia and Risk for All-Cause, Cardiovascular and Cancer Deaths in Apparently Healthy Elderly Koreans

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mild Anemia and Risk for All-Cause, Cardiovascular and Cancer Deaths in Apparently Healthy Elderly Koreans

AU - Han, Sil Vi

AU - Park, Minseon

AU - Kwon, Young-Min

AU - Yoon, Hyung-Jin

AU - Chang, Yoosoo

AU - Kim, Ho

AU - Lim, Youn-Hee

AU - Kim, Su Gyeong

AU - Ko, Ahryoung

PY - 2019/5/1

Y1 - 2019/5/1

N2 - BACKGROUND: Being common, mild anemia is sometimes considered a mere consequence of aging; however, aging alone is unlikely to lead to anemia. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between mild anemia and total mortality and cause-specific mortality in apparently healthy elderly subjects.METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 10,114 apparently healthy elderly individuals who underwent cancer screening and routine medical check-ups at one Health Promotion Center between May 1995 and December 2007. We defined mild anemia as a hemoglobin concentration between 10.0 g/dL and 11.9 g/dL in women and between 10.0 g/dL and 12.9 g/dL in men. We assessed the relationship between the overall, cardiovascular (CV), and cancer mortality and mild anemia using Cox proportional hazard models.RESULTS: Mild anemia was present in 143 men (3.1%) and 246 women (6.1%). During an average follow-up of 7.6 years, 495 deaths occurred, including 121 CV and 225 cancer deaths. After adjustments, mild anemia was associated with a 128% increase in the risk of all-cause mortality hazard ratio (HR, 2.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54- 3.37) in men and cancer-related mortality (HR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.22-4.13), particularly lung cancer (HR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.03-7.08) in men, but not in women. In the subgroup analyses based on smoking status, obesity, and age, the associations were more prominent in never or former smoker groups and the older group.CONCLUSION: The present study shows that overall and cancer-related mortality was associated with mild anemia in elderly men. Future prospective studies are needed to consolidate our findings.

AB - BACKGROUND: Being common, mild anemia is sometimes considered a mere consequence of aging; however, aging alone is unlikely to lead to anemia. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between mild anemia and total mortality and cause-specific mortality in apparently healthy elderly subjects.METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 10,114 apparently healthy elderly individuals who underwent cancer screening and routine medical check-ups at one Health Promotion Center between May 1995 and December 2007. We defined mild anemia as a hemoglobin concentration between 10.0 g/dL and 11.9 g/dL in women and between 10.0 g/dL and 12.9 g/dL in men. We assessed the relationship between the overall, cardiovascular (CV), and cancer mortality and mild anemia using Cox proportional hazard models.RESULTS: Mild anemia was present in 143 men (3.1%) and 246 women (6.1%). During an average follow-up of 7.6 years, 495 deaths occurred, including 121 CV and 225 cancer deaths. After adjustments, mild anemia was associated with a 128% increase in the risk of all-cause mortality hazard ratio (HR, 2.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54- 3.37) in men and cancer-related mortality (HR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.22-4.13), particularly lung cancer (HR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.03-7.08) in men, but not in women. In the subgroup analyses based on smoking status, obesity, and age, the associations were more prominent in never or former smoker groups and the older group.CONCLUSION: The present study shows that overall and cancer-related mortality was associated with mild anemia in elderly men. Future prospective studies are needed to consolidate our findings.

U2 - 10.4082/kjfm.17.0089

DO - 10.4082/kjfm.17.0089

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30650952

SN - 2005-6443

VL - 40

SP - 151

EP - 158

JO - Korean Journal of Family Medicine

JF - Korean Journal of Family Medicine

IS - 3

ER -