Risk Factors for Anemia in Patient with Viral Hepatitis C

 

Antiviral therapy: interferon-alpha-2b plus ribavirin

 

Severe anemia was defined as a hemoglobin < 10 g/dL.

 

Parameters:

(1) age in years

(2) gender

(3) platelet count

(4) body weight

 

Parameters	Findings	Points
age in years	< 50 years	0
	>= 50 years	1
gender	male	0
	female	1
platelet count	>= 150,000 per µL	0
	< 150,000 per µL	1
body weight	>= 65 kilograms	0
	< 65 kilograms	1

 

total number of risk factors =

= SUM(points for all 5 parameters)

 

Interpretation:

• minimum number of risk factors: 0

• maximum number of risk factors: 4

• The risk of anemia increases with the number of risk factors present.

 

The time of severe anemia was significantly correlated with a sustained virologic response (absence of viral RNA at 24 weeks post-treatment), especially in patients with HCV genotype 1.