Prevalence of Anaemia and its Association with Severity of COVID-19 among Hospitalised Patients: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) emerged as a global pandemic and was associated with various haematologic abnormalities. There are very few studies from India regarding the association between anaemia and disease severity of COVID-19.

Aim: To check the prevalence of anaemia and its association with severity of disease among hospitalised COVID-19 patients.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 203 patients admitted in general ward and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a tertiary care hospital in eastern India. Complete blood count at admission along with other relevant clinical and laboratory parameters was noted. Haematological parameters of the patients were described and then correlated with disease severity and death. Spearman’s correlation and Chi-square test were used to determine the associations.

Results: Out of 203 patients with COVID-19,145 (71.4%) had anaemia. The study included 107 males (52.7%) and 96 females (47.3%), of which 77 (80%) females had anaemia compared to 68 (63.5%) males. Co-morbidities were present in 73 patients. Haemoglobin levels were significantly negatively correlated with disease severity (p<0.001). This was even true for patients without any other co-morbidities (p<0.05). Haemoglobin was also negatively correlated with deaths in this study (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The prevalence of anaemia in admitted patients of COVID-19 was very high and low haemoglobin levels were associated with more severe disease and death. So, low haemoglobin levels in COVID-19 may be considered as a risk factor for more severe disease and death.