Gastrointestinal Lesions and Its Associated Factors in Adult Males With Iron Deficiency Anaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study From Tertiary Care Centre of North India

Background Around 30% of the world's population suffers from iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). The standard evaluation for IDA involves upper and lower endoscopy, which allows for the confirmation of pathology of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) induced due to IDA through iron malabsorption mechanism or loss of blood. Assessing the prevalence of lesions of GIT of significant nature among males having IDA, was the goal of our study. Methods Our cross-sectional study was conducted for two years and involved 152 males (adults) with confirmed cases of IDA from the Outpatient (OPD) and In-patient (IPD) in the present hospital. Following collecting consent (both informed and written in nature), patient-specific data was collected in a standardized form, and a blood sample was taken for laboratory testing. The analyses were done at a 5% level of significance; an association was considered significant if the p-value < 0.05. Results The average age of the study participants was 59.6 years. The commonest lesions reported were antral gastritis (9.9%) and H. pylori gastritis (7.2%) in upper GI; and haemorrhoid (9.2%) and anal fissure (3.9%) in lower GI. The overall prevalence of any GI lesions was 65.1%. The GI lesions were significantly associated higher among men with age > 50 years (73.7%). The presence of occult blood in stools (p < 0.0001) and parasites in stools (p=0.0001) were significantly related to the presence of GI lesions. Conclusion GI lesions are frequently detected in males with IDA. Whether it is symptomatic male or asymptomatic male with anaemia refractory to iron treatment, GIT should be evaluated in them.