Öz
Aim: Iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are common public health problems in our country and throughout the world. They are big threats for the pediatric age group. The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of ID and IDA in children without acute infection or chronic disease who admitted to our hospital. Thus, it is desired to contribute to the identification of new target age groups for prophylactic supplementation therapy.
Methods: Children who applied to the pediatric units of a secondary health care institution between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 participated in the study. Participants with acute signs of infection, leukocytosis and/or high C-reactive protein levels or chronic disease, growth retardation, obesity were excluded from the study. The data of the study were obtained from the hospital record system retrospectively. The information about age, gender, health status, complete blood count, serum iron, iron-binding capacity, ferritin levels were noted and transferrin saturations were calculated. The data were evaluated by statistical software.
Results: A total of 213 children, 125 girls (58,7%) and 88 boys (41,3%), aged between 1-17, participated in the study. The frequency of anemia, ignoring the etiologic reason, was found to be 29,6% in the study group. ID was detected in 26,2% of the participants and it was more frequent in adolescent girls. IDA frequency was 13,1%.
Conclusion: ID and IDA are common problems for our study group, which consisted of healthy-looking children. Prophylactic iron supplementation should be applied to all children if the requirement cannot be provided by the diet. In this way, it is possible to prevent ID and IDA that have no specific signs but have multistemic effects. All applications to the health institution and all examinations should also be considered as an opportunity for child health monitoring.