Anaemia in an Island Population

Abstract

A haematological investigation was carried out on the population of the Island of Westray situated in the Orkney Isles, North Scotland. The response rate was 98.8 per cent and 291 males and 289 females over the age of 15 years had a blood examination.

Anaemia in the male population (defined as 12.5 g. haemoglobin per 100 ml. of blood or less) was 4.1 per cent and in the female population (defined as 12 g. haemoglobin per 100 ml. of blood or less) was 14.5 per cent. In the male population, the prevalence was found to increase with age, from 2 to 3 per cent in the younger age groups to 8 per cent at 55 years and over. In the female population, the highest prevalence was in the 35 to 44 years age group (25%) and in women over 75 years (23%).

There was a statistically significant reduction of mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (M.C.H.C.) with age in all the male age groups studied. There was a similar significant association between age and M.C.H.C. in the female population under 75 years of age. Reduction in the M.C.H.C. with a normal haemoglobin level was found in 13.4 per cent of the males and in 18.7 per cent of the female population.