The Prevalence of Anemia and Its Associated Factors among Older Persons: Findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2015

Ambigga Krishnapillai, Mohd Azahadi Omar, Suthahar Ariaratnam, Smaria Awaluddin, Rajini Sooryanarayana, Ho Bee Kiau, Noorlaili Mohd Tauhid and Sazlina Shariff Ghazali
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Ambigga Krishnapillai: Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Defense Health, National Defense University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
Mohd Azahadi Omar: Institute for Public Health, National Institute of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam 40170, Selangor, Malaysia
Suthahar Ariaratnam: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Teknologi MARA, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
Smaria Awaluddin: Institute for Public Health, National Institute of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam 40170, Selangor, Malaysia
Rajini Sooryanarayana: Family Health Development Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya 62590, Malaysia
Ho Bee Kiau: Bandar Botanic Health Center, Blok A, Jalan Langat, Bandar Botanik, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Klang 41200, Selangor, Malaysia
Noorlaili Mohd Tauhid: Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia
Sazlina Shariff Ghazali: Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: Background: There is limited evidence on the association of anemia with chronic diseases and disabilities among older persons in Malaysia. We assessed the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among community-dwelling older persons. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using data from the nationwide National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015 (NHMS 2015) on the health of older adults conducted by the Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Malaysia. A two-stage stratified random-cluster sampling design was utilized. Data were collected on the sociodemographic profiles, non-communicable disease (NCD) comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia status) and disabilities among the older persons. Anemia was defined based on the World Health Organization’s standards. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association of anemia with chronic diseases and disabilities. Results: The prevalence of anemia was 35.3% (95% CI: 33.1, 37.4) in the older persons. Chronic disease profiling showed that the prevalence rates of anemia among the older persons with diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were 38.6%, 35.3% and 34.1%, respectively. In the multivariable analysis, persons aged 80 years and above (adjusted OR (aOR): 2.64; 95% CI: 2.00, 3.47), 70–79 years (aOR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.21, 1.66), with diabetes (aOR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.13, 1.51) and with disabilities in walking (aOR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.54) and self-care (aOR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.05) had higher odds of anemia compared to their respective reference categories. Among the persons with diabetes, the respondents aged 80 years and above (aOR: 2.48; 95% CI: 1.56, 3.94), 70–79 years old (aOR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.76) and with disabilities in vision (aOR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.63) and walking (aOR: 1.50; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.91) were more likely to be anemic. Furthermore, among the older persons without diabetes, persons aged 80 years and above (aOR: 2.89; 95% CI: 2.05, 4.07), 70–79 years old (aOR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.19, 1.80) and with difficulty in self-care (aOR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.30, 2.69) were more likely to be anemic. Conclusions: The resilient predictors of developing anemia were advancing age and diabetes, based on our study. Anemia is significantly associated with walking and vision disabilities among older persons with diabetes and with self-care difficulties in those without diabetes. There is a need for future studies to evaluate strategies to prevent anemia among older adults in order to promote healthy aging.

Keywords: anemia; older persons; Malaysia; NHMS; disability; chronic disease (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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