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Anaemia among patients with congestive cardiac failure in Uganda – its impact on treatment outcomes
Abstract
Methods. Echocardiography was done and haemoglobin levels were determined in 157 patients with CCF admitted to Mulago Hospital. The patients were followed up for 2 weeks and their treatment outcome was recorded.
Results. Of the 157 patients, 101 (64.3%) had anaemia (mean
haemoglobin concentration .11.9 g/dl for women and .12.9 g/dl for men) at admission. Increasing age and hypertensive heart disease were significantly associated with anaemia (odds ratio (OR) 2.92, confidence interval (CI) 1.41 - 6.05, p<0.01 and OR 0.31, CI 0.13 - 0.74, p< 0.01, respectively). In-hospital mortality at the end of the 2 weeks of treatment was 10.2% and was significantly higher among the anaemic
patients than their non-anaemic counterparts (OR 4.9, CI 1.07
- 22.35, p<0.03). The mean duration of in-hospital stay was 7.5
(standard deviation 3.4) days. This did not differ significantly
between anaemic and non-anaemic patients.
Conclusion. The prevalence of anaemia among patients with CCF attending Mulago Hospital was high. Anaemia in these patients was significantly associated with mortality by the end of 2 weeks of treatment.
