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Table 2 Distribution of iron status and anemia by study cohort

From: Estimating the burden of iron deficiency among African children

 

Kenya

Uganda

Burkina Faso

South Africa

The Gambia

Pooled*

Category

n/total

%

95% CI

n/total

%

95% CI

n/total

%

95% CI

n/total

%

95% CI

n/total

%

95% CI

n/total

%

95% CI

 Iron deficiency†

499/1408

35.4

32.9, 37.9

438/1267

34.6

31.9, 37.2

115/324

35.5

30.3, 40.7

375/894

41.9

38.7, 45.2

163/752

21.7

18.7, 24.6

1590/4645

34.2

32.9, 35.6

 Anemia‡

609/870

70.0

66.9, 73.1

652/1312

49.7

47.0, 52.4

288/331

87.0

83.4, 90.6

n/a

n/a

n/a

448/746

60.1

56.5, 63.6

1997/3259

61.3

59.6, 62.9

 Iron deficiency anemia§

207/833

24.8

21.9, 27.8

255/1209

21.1

18.8, 19.8

96/309

31.1

25.9, 36.3

n/a

n/a

n/a

123/745

16.5

13.8, 19.2

681/3096

22.0

20.5, 23.5

Biomarker

n

Mean

95% CI

n

Mean

95% CI

n

Mean

95% CI

n

Mean

95% CI

n

Mean

95% CI

n

Mean

95% CI

 Hemoglobin, g/dL

870

10.2

10.1, 10.3

1312

9.1

9.0, 9.2

331

9.6

9.4, 9.7

n/a

n/a

n/a

746

10.7

10.6, 10.8

3259

10.5

10.5, 10.6

 Ferritin, μg/L

1408

21.8

20.6, 23.1

1267

20.8

19.6, 22.0

324

22.2

19.7, 24.9

894

14.9

14.0, 15.9

752

25.1

23.6, 26.8

4645

20.5

19.9, 21.1

 sTfR, mg/L

1467

17.9

17.5, 18.3

1343

6.7

6.5, 7.0

342

17.7

16.7, 18.7

893

11.2

10.9, 11.5

661

3.4

3.4, 3.5

4045

11.7

11.4, 11.9

 Hepcidin, μg/L

1373

5.8

5.4, 6.2

1333

6.8

6.4, 7.2

309

5.3

4.6, 6.3

878

7.7

7.1, 8.4

709

6.0

5.3, 6.7

4602

6.4

6.2, 6.6

 BIS, mg/kg**

1393

−0.8

−1.0, −0.5

1241

2.5

2.2, 2.8

322

−0.6

−1.1, −0.1

893

−0.4

−0.7, −0.2

660

5.7

5.4, 6.0

3849

0.4

0.2, 0.5

 Ferritin index††

1389

14.4

13.9, 14.9

1234

5.5

5.3, 5.8

322

13.9

12.8, 15.1

881

10.1

9.7, 10.6

660

2.6

2.5, 2.7

3826

9.7

9.5, 10.0

 Serum iron, μmol/L

1428

6.5

6.3, 6.7

n/a

n/a

n/a

337

6.0

5.7, 6.4

n/a

n/a

n/a

737

8.6

8.3, 8.9

1765

6.4

6.2, 6.6

 Transferrin, g/L

1409

2.8

2.7, 2.8

1333

2.8

2.6, 2.7

327

2.7

2.6, 2.8

894

2.7

2.7, 2.8

n/a

n/a

n/a

3963

2.8

2.7, 2.8

 TSAT, %‡‡

1386

9.4

9.0, 9.8

n/a

n/a

n/a

325

8.9

8.3, 9.7

n/a

n/a

n/a

734

12.8

12.3, 13.3

1711

9.3

9.0, 9.6

 ZPP, μmol/mol heme

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

751

85.9

82.4, 89.5

751

85.9

82.4, 89.5

 MCV, fL

499

65.7

65.0, 66.5

1305

71.0

70.6, 71.5

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

741

75.6

75.1, 76.1

2545

71.2

70.9, 71.6

  1. n/a not available, BIS body iron store, sTfR soluble transferrin receptors, TSAT transferrin saturation, ZPP zinc protoporphyrin, MCV mean corpuscular volume
  2. The mean values are geometric means except for BIS, transferrin, hemoglobin, and MCV which are arithmetic means
  3. *Pooled values for sTfR, BIS, ferritin index, iron, transferrin, and TSAT, exclude The Gambia since markers were measured using different assays compared to the other cohorts
  4. †Iron deficiency defined using the WHO definition as ferritin < 12 μg/L or < 30 μg/L in presence of inflammation (C-reactive protein> 5 mg/L or α1-antichymotrypsin > 0.6 g/dL) in children < 5 years or < 15 μg/L in children ≥ 5 years [8]
  5. ‡Anemia was defined as hemoglobin < 11 g/dL in children aged 0 to 5 years or hemoglobin < 11.5 g/dL in children above 5 years [27]. Hemoglobin measurements unavailable in South Africa
  6. §Iron deficiency anemia defined as iron deficiency and anemia [27]
  7. **Body iron store was calculated using the ratio of soluble transferrin receptors and ferritin concentrations, −(log10((sTfR × 1000)/ferritin) − 2.8229)/0.1207 [24]
  8. ††Ferritin index was defined as sTfR/log10 ferritin [25]
  9. ‡‡TSAT was calculated as ((iron (μmol/L)/transferrin (g/L) × 25.1) × 100) except in The Gambia where it was calculated using iron and unsaturated iron binding capacity [26]. Iron and TSAT missing in Uganda and South Africa and transferrin missing in The Gambia
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