Higher red cell distribution width and poorer hospitalization-related outcomes in elderly patients.

Background: Red cell distribution width (RDW), an index for variation of red blood cell (RBC) size, has been proposed as a potential marker for poorer outcomes in several aging-related diseases and conditions. We tested whether greater variability of RBC size, presented as a higher RDW value, predicts poor prognoses among hospitalized patients over 60 years old.

Methods: We retrospectively collected data from older hospitalized patients aged ≥60 years between January 2013 to December 2017 at Sutter Health, a large integrated health system in Northern California.