Do blood tests cause anemia in hospitalized patients?
Phlebotomy is highly associated with changes in hemoglobin and hematocrit levels for patients admitted to an internal medicine service and can contribute to anemia. This anemia, in turn, may have significant consequences, especially for patients with cardiorespiratory diseases. Knowing the expected changes in hemoglobin and hematocrit due to diagnostic phlebotomy will help guide when to investigate anemia in hospitalized patients.
A number of valid comorbidity indices derived from administrative data are available. Selection of an appropriate index should take into account the type of data available, study population, and specific outcome of interest.