Document Type : Original article
Author
MBBS, Ananta Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Rajsamand, Udaipur. Rajasthan,India.
Abstract
Background Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is the most prevalent type of anaemia. Developing countries have a higher prevalence of IDA. In the present study the prevalence of IDA in children aged 5 to 15 years were investigated along with the associated etiological factors.
Methodology This cross sectional study was conducted among the children aged between 5 years and 15 years of agei the Nathdawara, Udaipur, Rajasthan. The subjects was selected randomly from the patients visiting the study centre. For collecting sociodemographic data, such as age, gender, and level of education, family history of diabetes, a structured questionnaire was utilised. After histories and physicals was examined, ve- nous blood samples was collected. The following parameters was measured: total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), concentration of Hb, mean corpuscu- lar hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum iron (SI), ferritin, Ret-He, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and hematocrit (Hct). Appropriate statistical analtsis were done.
Results In this study, total 390 participants in the age group of 5-15 years were included. Majority of the children enrolled in this study had iron deficiency anemia (71.79%). The mean hemoglobin concentration was 8.65±1.63 g/dL. Among the total 280 children who belonged to the IDA category 58.57% were female and 41.43% were male. This indicates a higher prevalence of IDA among females. Maximum of the children were from the lower socioeconomic category 66.79%. Among total 111 female cases that had IDA, 55 were in the age group of 11-15 years and menorrhagia was present in 36 cases (65.45%).
Conclusion In the present study, the higher prevalence of iron defi- ciency was reported in the study population of 5-15 years, with a high number of females being affected. Vegetarian children were more affected compared to their nonvegetarian counterparts. Children belonging to the lower socio-economic class were more anemic.
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