Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Adolescent Girls in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

INTRODUCTION: Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) is a global health problem. It involves population of all age group and sex. But adolescent girls are more vulnerable to it. The reasons may be increased iron demand, menstrual blood loss, infection, worm infestation etc.

AIM: To find the prevalence of iron deficiency and IDA in adolescent girls in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was done in the biochemistry clinical laboratory of Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India for a period of six months (April 2015-October 2015). Haemoglobin estimation was done by Sahli's method. Total iron and Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) estimation was done by Ferrozine method on fully automated chemistry analyzer Olympus AU 400 with the reagent kit available in the market. Ferritin estimation was done by chemiluminesence immunoassay method, using Access 2 (Beckman Coulter).

RESULTS: Out of 200 girls, 50% adolescent girls were found to be anaemic. Of the total, 43.3% were mildly, 3.3% were moderately and 3.3% were severely affected by anaemia.

CONCLUSION: As prevalence of anaemia is 50%, it needs intervention for its prevention and control. This study will help in planning and implementation of the policy for prevention of iron deficiency and IDA.