. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Feb 1.

Published in final edited form as: Clin Geriatr Med. 2011 Feb;27(1):67–78. doi: 10.1016/j.cger.2010.08.005

Table 2.

Clinical Diagnostic Tests Important to the Diagnosis of Anemia in Older Adults

Test	Pathogenic	Discriminates	References
Mean Cell Volume (MCV)	> 100 fL < 80 fL	Iron vs. B₁₂/folate deficiency Iron deficiency vs. AICD	[31]
Mean Cell Hemoglobin (MCH)	< 27 pg or > 31 pg	Iron deficiency vs. AICD
Vitamin B₁₂ (B₁₂)	< 200 pg/mL	Macrocytic anemia	[2]
Folate	RBC: <102.6 ng/mL Serum: < 2.6 ng/mL	Macrocytic anemia	[2]
Serum Iron (Fe)	< 60 mcg/dL	Iron deficiency/AICD vs. Unexplained anemia	[59]
Transferrin Saturation (TS)	< 15%	Iron deficiency/AICD vs. Unexplained anemia	[68,81]
Serum Ferritin (sFt)	< 12 ng/mL	Iron deficiency vs. AICD	[2,82]
Soluble Transferrin Receptor/log (serum Ferritin) [sTfR/log sFt]	> 1.5 > 0.8	Iron deficiency vs. AICD AICD with iron deficiency anemia	[81]
Estimated Creatinine Clearance (eCC)	< 30 mL/min	AICD vs. anemia of chronic kidney disease	[83]
C reactive Protein (CRP)	> 10 mg/dL	Iron deficiency vs. AICD