Prevalence and nature of anaemia in a prospective, population-based sample of people with diabetes: Teesside anaemia in diabetes (TAD) study

Diabet. Med. 27, 655–659 (2010) Aims Anaemia occurs in 25% of people attending hospital diabetes clinics, but this may not be representative of all people with diabetes. We aimed to determine the prevalence of anaemia in a prospective population‐based sample stratified by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using the 4‐point Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formula. Methods All 7331 patients on our district register were stratified by eGFR. Seven hundred and thirty were approached by letter on two occasions. Two hundred and thirty‐four (32%) returned questionnaires and blood samples. Responders (R), non‐responders (NR) and the whole cohort (C) were similar: mean ± sd age R 61.7 ± 12.7 years; NR 61.3 ± 15.1 years; C 61.8 ± 14.2 years; diabetes duration R 8.8 ± 8.6 years; NR 8.2 ± 7.9 years; C 7.5 ± 7.8 years, Type 1 diabetes R 10.1%, NR 10.8%, C 9.4%. Anaemia was defined using World Health Organization criteria: haemoglobin