Abstract

KUULE, Julius Kabbali; SEREMBA, Emmanuel  and  FREERS, Juergen. Anaemia among patients with congestive cardiac failure in Uganda: its impact on treatment outcomes. SAMJ, S. Afr. med. j. [online]. 2009, vol.99, n.12, pp.876-880. ISSN 2078-5135.

BACKGROUND: Anaemia increases morbidity and mortality in patients with congestive cardiac failure (CCF). Few studies have examined the prevalence of anaemia and its impact among patients with CCF in sub-Saharan Africa. We assessed the prevalence of anaemia and its influence on treatment outcome in patients with CCF attending a large referral hospital in Kampala, Uganda. 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.

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