عوز الحديد الكامن لدى مجموعة من الشابات السوريات في عمر الإنجاب

Abstract EN

Background and Objective: Anemia is defined as a hemoglobin (Hb) concentration below 12g/dL .Limitations in the supply of one or several essential micronutrients like iron could lead to Anemia.

Women of reproductive age, ie those aged 15-49 years have one of the highest prevalence of iron deficiency anemia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 32.4% of non-pregnant women have anemia in the eastern Mediterranean region .

The aim of this study was to evaluate iron deficiency(ID) without anemia frequency in a group of female university students of child bearing age .

Materials and methods: Female students at the Faculty of Pharmacy at Arab International University AIU,( n= 203),aged between 18-25 years participated in this cross sectional study.

Laboratory analysis including RBC, Hb, Htc, ESR, RDW, iron in serum and ferritin were performed.

Results: Levels of iron in serum concentration were normal in 63.5 % of the participants.

Frequency of ID with anemia and ID without anemia were 17.7% and 18.7% respectively.

Spearman correlation between MCV&RDW was significantly inversely correlated (r = - 0.64, p=0.001).

Conclusion: Early detection of latent iron deficiency and treatment are of great in a dome specially in women of childbearing age (18-25 years).

Although the study group is small and further investigations are needed locally , it seems that the combination of MCV-RDW-Hb results could be useful in predicting ID before using more specific and expensive tests.