The magnitude of anemia and associated factors among adult diabetic patients in Tertiary Teaching Hospital, Northern Ethiopia, 2019, cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Patients with Diabetic Mellitus are at higher risk of different complications. Many previous studies show that anemia among diabetic patients is poorly diagnosed. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the magnitude and associated factors of anemia among adult diabetes patients having regular follow up at the diabetic clinic of Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Tigray, 2018/19. METHODS: This study was conducted the Diabetic clinic of Ayder comprehensive specialized hospital, Tigray regional state, Northern Ethiopia from January to March 2019. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. About 5 ml of venous blood was collected by experienced laboratory technologists under a complete aseptic technique. Two ml of the venous blood was used for hemoglobin determination. And three ml of the venous blood was used without any anticoagulant for creatinine determination. The association of variables was assessed using bivariate and multivariable analysis in the logistic regression model with p-value, odds ratio, and 95% CI in the SPSS version 24 software. RESULTS: From a total of 262 diabetes patients, forty-seven (17.9%) were found to be anemic (6.7% males and 11.5% females). Among the related factors, residency (Adjusted Odds Ratio, 7.69, 95% CI, 2.060, 28.69, p = 0.002,), age of the patients (Adjusted Odds Ratio, 4.007, 95%CI, 1.53–10.51, p = 0.005,) and sex (Adjusted Odds Ratio, 3.434, 95% CI, 1.582, 7.458, p = 0.042,) were significantly associated with anemia. CONCLUSION: According to this study, the magnitude of anemia is high among diabetic patients. Occupation of the participants, residency, HIV status, being female, and age was significantly associated with anemia.