Diagnostics in anaemia of chronic disease in general practice: a real-world retrospective cohort study

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Figure 1. Flow diagram of the selection of study patients.

Table 1. Characteristics of the study population (n = 267).

Table 2. Data on established cause and recorded investigations

^a Only physical examinations directly related to a diagnosis of the underlying cause were noted. ^b CT scan was always requested in consultation with a medical specialist. CT= computed tomography.

Table 3. Underlying causes of anaemia of chronic disease

	Additional investigations, n (%) (n = 205; 77%)	Underlying disease already apparent, n (%) (n = 31; 12%)	No additional investigation, no apparent cause, n (%) (n = 31; 12%)	Total, n (%) (n = 267; 100%)
Underlying cause established	179 (87)	31 (100)	0 (0)	210 (79)
Autoimmune disease	41 (23)	10 (32)	–	51 (24)
Infection	68 (38)	–	–	68 (32)
Renal failure	4 (2)	–	–	4 (2)
Recent operation	2 (1)	1 (3)	–	3 (1)
Malignancy	44 (25)	4 (13)	–	48 (23)
Diabetes	7 (4)	12 (39)	–	19 (9)
Heart failure	5 (3)	2 (7)	–	7 (3)
Chronic lung disease	4 (2)	1 (3)	–	5 (2)
Other causes^a	4 (2)	1 (3)	–	5 (2)
No cause established	26 (13)	0 (0)	31 (100)	57 (21)

Percentage of underlying causes is calculated from the total number of causes established in each subgroup. ^aSuch as liver cirrhosis, haematoma, and alcohol abuse.

Table 4. Factors associated with implementation of the current recommendations and prescription of oral iron supplementation.

	Univariate analysis	Multivariate analysis
	Percentage or mean difference (95% CI)	Odds ratio (95% CI)
Recommendations
Age, years	3.63 (0.65 to 6.60)	0.97 (0.94 to 1.00)
Female	84.0	Reference category
Male	91.9	0.82 (0.38 to 1.75)
Haemoglobin ≥11.8 g/dl	90.4	Reference category
Haemoglobin <11.8 g/dl	86.6	0.47 (0.21 to 1.03)
Ferritin >324 μg/l	92.5	Reference category
Ferritin ≤324 μg/l	84.3	2.46 (1.33 to 4.52)
Oral iron supplementation
Age, years	-1.29 (-5.05 to 2.47)	1.00 (0.97 to 1.04)
Female	15.1	Reference category
Male	11.5	2.00 (0.83 to 4.83)
Haemoglobin ≥11.8 g/dl	6.4	Reference category
Haemoglobin <11.8 g/dl	19.0	4.97 (1.82 to 13.62)
Ferritin >324 μg/l	8.3	Reference category
Ferritin ≤324 μg/l	17.9	2.30 (1.06 to 4.99)