Risk of iron deficiency anemia in children with low ferritin levels

Abstract

Iron deficiency anemia may impair learning ability in children aged 02 to 06 years. This disease may produce behavioral effects such as lack of attention, fatigue and tiredness that can lead to poor school performance. The aim of this study was to determine the number of children 02 to 06 years who performed the measurements of ferritin, serum iron and hemogram in a clinical laboratory in Belo Horizonte/MG, in the first half 2011, seeking to evaluate the results of these examinations and to establish the prevalence of iron deficiency in studied subjects. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional observational study. Through software-BI SADIG, used for data management of the clinical laboratory, we selected 363 children from 02 to 06 years who performed the measurements of ferritin, serum iron and hemogram during the period from January first to July thirty-one, two thousand and eleven. The male children had plasma ferritin levels significantly lower when compared with female children (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between participants of both sexes for serum iron and hemoglobin. Nine children (2.5%) had anemia (Hb ≤ 11.0 g/dL and ferritin ≤ 12 ng/mL). There was a low prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in children. The most important finding of this study was nearly five times greater risk of developing iron deficiency anemia in children who had plasma ferritin levels below or equal to 12 ng/mL, suggesting that this may be considered the best cutoff point for the population studied.