Assessment of megaloblastic anemia in geriatrics in Lagos State, Nigeria

Background Deficiency in some of the water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin B9 (folate) and vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is associated with multiple diseases seen in the elderly, for example, anemia, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, cancers, and osteoporosis. This study, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, aimed to determine the serum levels of vitamins B9 (folate) and B12 (cobalamin)/homocysteine in the elderly. Packed cell volume and mean corpuscular volume were correlated with these vitamins. Materials and methods This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study done at the geriatric clinic of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. Following the receipt of the Institution's Ethics Committee approval, elderly participants, aged 65 years and above were recruited consecutively. Their blood was collected into EDTA and plain bottles for the determination of full blood count and folate and vitamin B12/homocysteine, respectively. Data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. The P value was set at less than or equal to 0.05. Results A total of 90 participants were recruited consisting of 50 (55.6%) females and 40 (44.4%) males. The overall mean folate, vitamin B12, and homocysteine were 7.64 ± 2.39 ng/ml, 514 ± 237.95 pg/ml, and 8.37 ± 6.88, respectively. Only 2.2 and 1.1% of the elderly had vitamin 12 and folate deficiencies, respectively, and 13.3% had elevated homocysteine. Packed cell volume was statistically significantly correlated with folate, vitamin B12, mean corpuscular volume, and homocysteine (P=0.001). Conclusion Vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies are uncommon in the elderly population in Lagos. The incidence of hyperhomocysteinemia is also low among them.