{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T10:41:47Z","timestamp":1772188907965,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,22]],"date-time":"2021-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1629590400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004569","name":"Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wy\u017cszego","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PBZ-MEIN-9\/2\/2006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PBZ-MEIN-9\/2\/2006"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004569","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Vitamin B12, folate, iron deficiency (IDA), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and anemia of inflammation (AI) are among the main causes of anemia in the elderly. WHO criteria of nutritional deficiencies neglect aging-related changes in absorption, metabolism, and utilization of nutrients. Age-specific criteria for the diagnosis of functional nutritional deficiency related to anemia are necessary. We examined the nationally representative sample of Polish seniors. Complete blood count, serum iron, ferritin, vitamin B12, folate, and renal parameters were assessed in 3452 (1632 women, 1820 men) participants aged above 64. Cut-off points for nutritional deficiencies were determined based on the WHO criteria (method-A), lower 2.5 percentile of the studied population (method-B), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis (method-C). Method-A leads to an overestimation of the prevalence of vitamin B12 and folate deficiency, while method-B to their underestimation with over 50% of unexplained anemia. Based on method-C, anemia was classified as nutritional in 55.9%. In 22.3% of cases, reasons for anemia remained unexplained, the other 21.8% were related to CKD or AI. Mild cases were less common in IDA, and more common in non-deficiency anemia. Serum folate had an insignificant impact on anemia. It is necessary to adopt the age-specific criteria for nutrient deficiency in an old population.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells10082167","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,22]],"date-time":"2021-08-22T21:42:12Z","timestamp":1629668532000},"page":"2167","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Causes of Anemia in Polish Older Population\u2014Results from the PolSenior Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5515-9826","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arkadiusz","family":"Styszy\u0144ski","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory for Geriatric Medicine, Department of Palliative Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 61-245 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6367-7794","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jerzy","family":"Chudek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine and Oncological Chemotherapy, Medical University of Silesia, 40-029 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9340-3188","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ma\u0142gorzata","family":"Mossakowska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 02-109 Warsaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Krzysztof","family":"Lewandowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Monika","family":"Puzianowska-Ku\u017anicka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Epigenetics, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland"},{"name":"Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Medical Centre of Postgraduate Education, 01-813 Warsaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alicja","family":"Klich-R\u0105czka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, Jagiellonian University, Collegium Medicum, 31-531 Krakow, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andrzej","family":"Wi\u0119cek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, Transplantation and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Silesia, 40-055 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Katarzyna","family":"Wieczorowska-Tobis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory for Geriatric Medicine, Department of Palliative Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 61-245 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). 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