ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS AND ANEMIA AMONG LATE ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS IN MADINAH, KSA

Background : The prevalence of mental illness in Saudi Arabia may be as high as 48%[1]. Recently, a growing body of research has investigated the possible association between anemia and psychiatric disorders due to the role of iron in cognitive and emotional functioning [2]. We investigated the association between psychiatric disorders and anemia in the Al-Madinah Al-Monawarah region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on adult and late adolescent patients with psychiatric disorders in the Outpatient Department (OPD) who were admitted to the Al-Amal hospital in Al-Medina. The collected data included demographic characteristics, clinical diagnosis, and the complete blood count (CBC) profiles of the patients. SPSS version 22 was used for data entry and analysis. Results: We included 282 patients with psychiatric disorders. The majority of the patients were males (54%) with a mean age of 35.13 +/- 13.1 years. Almost 72% of the patients were treated as outpatients, and the most common conditions were schizophrenia and other personality disorders (46%). According to their CBC profiles, 64 patients (22.7%) had anemia. Our analysis showed that patients with brief psychotic disorders and personality disorders were more likely to be anemic than other types of psychiatric disorders than patients with other types of psychiatric disorders (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In conclusion, the prevalence of anemia among patients with psychiatric disorders was 29.5%. Moreover, patients with brief psychotic disorders and personality disorders had statistically significant higher prevalence of anemia.