Anemia and Microvascular Complications in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: although chronic kidney disease-induced anemia is more prevalent in patients with diabetes mellitus (dm), anemia is a common finding prior to manifestation of kidney disease. in presence of some risk factors at the time of diagnosing dm, microvascular complications must be considered. the effect of anemia as a risk factor on progression of dm complications is still unclear.objectives: the aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of anemia and its association with microvascular complications in patients with type 2 dm.patients and methods: this cross-sectional study was performed in the outpatient endocrinology clinic at baqiyatallah university of medical sciences hospital, tehran, iran. study was done from february 2011 to february 2012. patients with type 2 dm without any obvious symptom or sign of anemia were included in study.results: a total of 93 patients (30.4%) had anemia including 46 (15.1%) with normochromic normocytic, 44 (14.4%) with hyperchromic microcytic, and 3 (1%) with hyperchromic macrocytic anemias. there was a positive correlation between duration of dm and anemia. microvascular complications were more frequent with normocytic or microcytic anemias. glomerular filtration rate (gfr) was higher in patients without anemia; moreover, nephropathy was less frequent among them. among patients with anemia, 43% had gfr of more than 90 ml/min and 19.4% had normoalbuminuria. neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy had strong association with anemia (odds ratio of 1.99, 1.7, and 1.5, respectively).conclusions: anemia is a common complication of dm and is associated with duration of disease and microvascular complications.