A recent study, using public data from 187 countries worldwide and World Health Organization (WHO) definitions of anaemia (Table I), found a significant decrement in the global prevalence of anaemia, which decreased from 40.2% in 1990 to 32.9% in 2010, though the prevalence varied widely across regions1. However, a lower prevalence of mild and moderate anaemia accounted for most of the reduction, while the prevalence of severe anaemia remained largely unchanged1.

Previously, the third US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, Phases 1&2, 1988-1994; 26,372 individuals), showed an average prevalence of anaemia of 7% in the 1-to 64-year old age group, with the prevalence being slightly higher among females2. In people 65 years old or more, the prevalence of anaemia increased progressively with age (13% in subjects aged 75-84, 23% in those over 85 years) and the condition was more common among males2. However, analysing the distribution of haemoglobin (Hb) levels in men and women aged 65 years and older showed that 32.4% of women and 23.3% of men had Hb levels lower than 13 g/dL, indicating that the higher overall prevalence of anaemia among older men just results from the genderspecific WHO definitions of anaemia2. This progressive increase of anaemia prevalence with age was also noted in a meta-analysis of 34 studies (85,409 elderly