RESEARCH ARTICLE
Monitoring Complete Blood Counts and Haemoglobin Levels in Osteoarthritis Patients: Results from a European Survey Investigating Primary Care Physician Behaviours and Understanding
Chris Walker*, 1, Augusto Faustino 2, Angel Lanas 3
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2014Volume: 8
First Page: 110
Last Page: 115
Publisher ID: TORJ-8-110
DOI: 10.2174/1874312901408010110
Article History:
Received Date: 1/1/2014Revision Received Date: 14/10/2014
Acceptance Date: 30/10/2014
Electronic publication date: 19 /12/2014
Collection year: 2014
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background:
Chronic use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity, including occult blood loss and the development of clinically significant anaemia.
Methods:
700 primary care physicians who routinely used NSAIDs to manage their patients were questioned to probe their understanding of the potential importance of blood loss in the OA populations they commonly treated with NSAIDs in a chronic fashion.
Results:
Approximately 50% of doctors surveyed measured their osteoarthritis patients’ haemoglobin routinely as part of a complete blood count (CBC). The remaining cohort of physicians only considered conducting CBCs if they believed there was cause for concern, with the most common reasons cited being anaemia/blood loss (90/80% of physicians respectively) or the patient showing signs of weakness and fatigue (78% of physicians). When all doctors were queried on their understanding of normal range of haemoglobin (Hb) values, as defined by the WHO, significant variation in the absolute figures were reported with approximately 40% of physicians citing a low end range for normal that would actually place the patient below the threshold for anaemia.
Conclusion:
Physician practice in relation to carrying out blood tests in OA patients and their understanding of the potential significance of specific results obtained, namely haemoglobin values, varies substantially across the countries surveyed. As NSAIDs form a pivotal part in the chronic treatment of osteoarthritis and are well recognised agents that can precipitate blood loss, guidelines may be needed to advise physicians as to when monitoring a patient’s haemoglobin levels may be appropriate.
