ABSTRACT Background:

The Brazilian elderly population is growing exponentially, making prevention and treatment of chronic diseases a priority in this age group. Anemia in older adults is underdiagnosed, undervalued and associated with high morbimortality.

Objective:

To assess the prevalence of anemia in the elderly residents of a long-term care institution and to correlate this with individual patient history, the use of polypharmacy and mortality.

Method:

A retrospective study was carried out of data extracted from medical records of patients treated in 2014 at the Hospital Geriátrico e de Convalescentes Dom Pedro II under the Preventive Actions Program.

Results:

Data were collected from 88 female (48%) and 95 male (52%) elderly residents at a long-term care institution. Patient ages ranged from 60 to 102 years with a mean age of 76.3 years. Overall, 76 participants were diagnosed with anemia, representing 41% of the sample. Of those diagnosed, 35 were women (46%) and 41 were men (54%).

Conclusion:

Anemia in the elderly is a clinical condition associated with increased morbimortality. However, the disorder remains underdiagnosed, resulting in higher risks for older adults. The present study found 76 patients with anemia among the 183 residents at the long-term care institution. The patient profile of this population with anemia is non-smokers, male, aged between 70 and 79 years, with normochromic/normocytic anemia and taking multiple medications.