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Use and interpretation of hemoglobin concentrations for assessing anemia status in individuals and populations: results from a WHO technical meeting
Author(s) -
GarciaCasal Maria Nieves,
Pasricha SantRayn,
Sharma Andrea J.,
PeñaRosas Juan Pablo
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/nyas.14090
Subject(s) - anemia , guideline , psychological intervention , public health , medicine , epidemiology , gerontology , intensive care medicine , environmental health , family medicine , pathology , nursing , psychiatry
Anemia is an important public health problem that negatively affects health of individuals and economic potential of populations. An accurate case definition is critical for understanding burden and epidemiology of anemia, for planning public health interventions, and for clinical investigation and treatment of patients. The current threshold hemoglobin concentrations for diagnosis of anemia were proposed in 1968 and based on studies predominantly of Caucasian adult populations in Europe and North America. The World Health Organization is undertaking a project to review global guidelines for anemia. We describe the process of obtaining input from technical experts, researchers, blood bank experts, policy makers, and program implementers to identify key information or knowledge gaps for anemia diagnosis. From this scoping exercise, six priority areas were identified on diverse topics related to the use and interpretation of hemoglobin concentrations to diagnose anemia in individuals and populations. A call for authors was conducted to produce background, review, and research papers across priority topics. This paper summarizes the first technical meeting, which included commissioned papers as well as case studies, describes key data gaps identified, and describes the next steps in the guideline development process to assess available evidence and define knowledge gaps to improve anemia characterization.