Abstract
A patient's supine posture redistributes plasma into the vascular space, leading to dilution of blood constituents. The extent to which posture may influence identification of hospital-acquired anemia is unknown. Patients in this quasi-experimental study had blood obtained for hemoglobin measurement while recumbent for at least 6 hours, and then again after sitting upright for at least 1 hour. Of the 35 patients who completed the study, 13 were women (37%). Patients had a median increase in hemoglobin of 0.60 g/dL (range, –0.6 to 1.4 g/dL) with sitting, a 5.2% (range, (–4.5% to 15.1%) relative change (P <.001). Ten of 35 patients (29%) exhibited an increase in hemoglobin of 1.0 g/dL or more. Posture influences hemoglobin levels in hospitalized patients on general medicine wards; this knowledge may help curb unnecessary testing to evaluate small changes in hemoglobin concentration.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 219-222 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Hospital Medicine |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2021 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Fundamentals and skills
- Care Planning
- Assessment and Diagnosis
- Health Policy
- Leadership and Management
- Internal Medicine