Prevalence of Anemia in Hospitalized Internal Medicine Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

BackgroundThis study aimed to determine the prevalence of anemia and characterize its distribution among patients admitted to the Department of Medicine of Satkhira Medical College Hospital, Satkhira, Bangladesh.The secondary objectives were to describe selected erythrocyte-related hematological characteristics and to characterize anemia-related interventions, hospital course, complications, and discharge outcomes within this clinically diverse inpatient population. MethodsA hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over four months among 384 patients admitted to the Department of Medicine of Satkhira Medical College Hospital and selected through purposive sampling.Patients aged ≥18 years who provided informed consent were included.Data were collected using a pretested structured case record form, and venous blood samples were analyzed using a Sysmex XN-1000 (Henry Schein, Inc., Melville, NY, USA) automated hematology analyzer. ResultsThe study included 384 patients with a mean age of 54.76 ± 15.33 years, of whom 53.9% were male and 92.45% were from rural areas.The mean hemoglobin concentration was 7.1 ± 0.14 g/dL, hematocrit was 20.4 ± 0.56%, and mean corpuscular volume was 63.6 ± 3.68 fL.Anemia was present in 69.79% of participants.Most patients required no anemia-related intervention (84.89%), while blood transfusion was the most frequent intervention (8.85%).The mean hospital stay was 5.5 ± 2.12 days, and 90.62% developed no documented complications.At discharge, 77.86% had improved, 13.54% were referred, 5.21% left against medical advice, and in-hospital mortality was 0.26%. ConclusionAnemia was common among hospitalized internal medicine patients in this study.Despite the high prevalence, most patients experienced an uncomplicated hospital course and were discharged in an improved condition.The findings support routine identification and appropriate evaluation of anemia among patients admitted to internal medicine wards.