Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Elderly Aged > 60 Taking Daily Low-Dose Aspirin.

Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and anaemia of chronic disease are both common causes of morbidity in the elderly population, where they increase hospitalization and mortality. The risk of IDA is increased in gastrointestinal bleeding caused by aspirin at low doses administered daily, which has been widely used to prevent cardiovascular diseases. The current research will compare the occurrence of IDA between patients under 81 mg of low-dose aspirin and nonaspirin users. The electronic medical records were reviewed for a retrospective cohort study in the King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2016-2023). The inclusion criteria were patients aged over 60 years who were taking 81 mg aspirin daily, and 1308 patients were included (654 aspirin users and 654 nonusers). The number of men using aspirin was 378 (56.5), and those not using it were 291 (43.5). The number of women using aspirin was 276 (43.2), and those not using it were 363 (56.8). In the IDA cases, there were 136 (20.8) and 165 (25.2) cases in aspirin and nonaspirin users, respectively. Although this was not a significant difference, the load of haemoglobin in aspirin users was markedly less with a high concentration of ferritin in the bloodstream than in nonusers. Hypertension was a risk factor for IDA. The IDA rates were higher in nonaspirin users in females, old patients and chronic steroid users. Aspirin and nonaspirin users did not differ significantly in terms of IDA incidence. Nonetheless, there were a decreased haemoglobin and an increased ferritin in aspirin users. Potential confounders may include age and BMI, which need to be considered when monitoring low-dose aspirin patients in old age.