Prevalence of anemia among Saudi patients with solid cancers at diagnosis in King Faisal Hospital, Taif Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of anemia among patients newly diagnosed with solid malignancies at King Faisal Hospital in Taif Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional, hospital-based study was conducted from December 2017 to March 2020. A total of 320 patients newly diagnosed with solid malignancy were examined to assess anemia prevalence. RESULTS: Of 320 patients with solid cancers, 245 (76.6%) were female and 75 (23.4%) were male. The median (interquartile range) age of 57 (45 ─ 66) years, range between 16 and 108 years. The types of cancer included were breast (29.1%), female genital tract (20.0%), colorectal (25.3%), head and neck (10.3%), urinary bladder (4.7%), prostate (5.0%), lung (2.5%), liver (2.2%) and lymphoma (0.9%). The prevalence of anemia at diagnosis of cancer was 44.1% across all cancer types. A higher anemia prevalence was noted in colorectal (n = 46/81, 56.8%) (p = 0.047). CONCLUSION: Patients with colorectal or female genital tract cancers had a higher anemia prevalence (56.8% and 43.8%, respectively) than did patients with other cancers.