Prevalence and Patterns of Anemia Among Patients With Heart Failure in Mogadishu, Somalia: A Retrospective Study

Anemia is considered an independent predictor of death in patients with heart failure (HF). The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and patterns of anemia among patients with HF in Mogadishu, Somalia.
This is a retrospective assessment of patients with HF admitted to the cardiology outpatient and emergency departments of Mogadishu Somali Turkish Training and Research Hospital between January 2021 and March 2021.
The study population consisted of 200 patients at a mean age of 62.26 years (SD= ±14 y). Male was the predominant sex with 114 patients (57%). Fifty-nine patients (29.5%) had anemia. Iron-deficiency anemia was reported in 37 patients (18.5%), vitamin B12 deficiency anemia in 9 (4.5%), anemia of chronic disease in 9 (4.5%), folic acid deficiency anemia in 2 (1%), both iron deficiency and folic acid deficiency in 1 (0.5%), and a combination of iron, folic acid, and B12 deficiency in 1 (0.5%). The majority of the studied patients (n=141, 70.5%) were non-anemic. No association existed between anemia and age, sex, and HF type (P<0.776, P<0.605, and P<0.553, respectively).
The prevalence rate of anemia among patients with HF in Mogadishu was 29.5%. Anemia was more prevalent in the older population, and iron-deficiency anemia was the most common type of anemia. (Iranian Heart Journal 2022; 23(2): 61-67)