Prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in 12-months old infants in qatif primary health care centers

Objectives This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among 12 months old infants who attended the well-baby clinic (WBC) in Qatif Primary health care centers (PHCC), from January 2018 to December 2018.
Material and Method: It was a cross sectional study descriptive study in which 12 months old infants who were registered in Qatif PHCC were the study population. A total of 406 twelve months old infants were selected randomly using the systematic random technique from all 24 well –baby clinics of Qatif PHCC. The cutoff point used to diagnose anemia was hemoglobin (HB) less than 11g/dl and Iron deficiency (ID) was serum ferritin less than 15 g/L. Data were collected by designing compilation sheets which included infant’s information on age, gender and type of feeding, Hematocrit Value, Mean Capsular Volume, Mean Capsular Hemoglobin Concentration, Red Cell Distribution, Red Blood Cells, White Blood Cells, Platelets, Serum iron , Total iron binding capacity electrophoresis and G6PD level. The data were coded and analyze using the SPSS ver.22.
Categorical variables were described using numbers and percentages Gender, feeding type, HB electrophoresis, and blood group were involved in single logistic regression to assess their association with the outcome (IDA). The significant variables were then included in multiple logistic regression. The level of significance was set at P value <0.05 and CI of 95%.
Results: This study reported that the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) was estimated at 27.1%. Out of 185 anemic infants 110 had serum ferritin less than 15 g/L, making the proportion of IDA to be 59.46 % and there was no statistically significant difference between male and female. Regarding feeding practice, IDA was less prevalent in mixed and bottled feeding (P- value<0.05). Infants with sickle cell disease (SCD) have less prevalence IDA (0.023).
Conclusion: IDA is still a problem in Saudi infants. Therefore, we recommend the implementation of health education and promotion programs to increase the awareness of mother and families regarding to their infant’s health. Maintaining Screening for IDA should be continued and encouraging both breast feeding with iron supplementation.