Screening

Screening for Nutritional Anemia

by Michael Jubinville, MPH

The purpose of screening is to find and treat diseases early. They are given to people who may be at high risk, but who don’t have problems.

Screening Guidelines

Anemia screening may be done:

In non-pregnant women every 5 to 10 years—more often for those at high risk
Pregnant women at the first prenatal visit

Children should be screened at 9 to 12 months of age. Some may need testing more often if they’re at high risk.

Screening Tests

Blood test at routine physical exams will include:

Hematocrit—Counts the ratio of your blood that’s red blood cells (RBCs)
Hemoglobin—Tests the amount of this protein in your blood; it carries oxygen to your cells
Complete blood count (CBC)—Counts RBCs, white blood cells (these fight infection), and platelets (these help the blood to clot)

References:

Anemia. American Society of Hematology website. Available at:
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Accessed February 13, 2020.

Anemia in Adults-Approach to Patients. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.dynamed.... Updated September 27, 2019. Accessed February 13, 2020.

Anemia in Older Adults. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.dynamed.... Updated November 27, 2017. Accessed February 13, 2020.

Anemia. National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute website. Available at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/anemia. Accessed February 13, 2020.

Complete blood count (CBC). Lab Tests Online—AACC website. Available at: https://labtestsonline.org/tests/complete-blood-count-cbc. Updated January 11, 2020. Accessed February 13, 2020.

Vieth JT, Lane DR. Anemia. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2017 Dec;31(6):1045-1060.

Last reviewed September 2019 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Marcin Chwistek, MD
Last Updated: 10/30/2020

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