Anemia and iron deficiency prevalence in Mexican adolescents. Results from the national probabilistic survey ENSANUT 2006.

Abstract

ObjectiveTo describe the anemia and iron deficiency prevalence in Mexican adolescents.MethodsNational probabilistic sample. The data of 3000 adolescents (12–19 years of age) was analyzed. Hemoglobin concentration was measured by capillary blood. Commercial kits were used to measure the serum concentrations of ferritin. Iron deficiency was defined as ferritin concentration <12 mcg/L. Iron deficiency and anemia predictors were evaluated with logistic regression models.ResultsAnemia prevalence among adolescents was 11.5%, there was no differences by sex. The national iron deficiency prevalence was 13.6%, and it was higher among women (13.38%) than men (9.28%). When stratifying by age (younger or older than 15 years of age), the iron deficiency prevalence in men declined (11.32 vs 7%) and in women increased (14.8 vs 21.9%). The odds of being anemic increased by 3 folds in iron deficient adolescents compared to the non‐deficient (p<0.001).ConclusionsAnemia and iron deficiency are still being a health problem in Mexican adolescents. The women and the adolescents from the southern zone of the country have the largest prevalence of iron deficiency.

Drops of capillary blood are not appropriate for hemoglobin measurement with HemoCue: A comparative study using drop capillary, pooled capillary, and venous blood samples

“…Our ndings may explain the discrepancy in estimations of anemia prevalence among surveys [14][15][16][17][18] when veri cation of the equipment is uncommon, and the blood samples are frequently drops of capillary blood. Recently, Hruschka et al [10] documented wider discrepancies in Hb distribution and substantial differences (from 9 to 30%) in anemia estimation from two nationally representative survey matched by time and country when using the HemoCue device as compared to other methodologies.…”

“…We found anemia trends with inconsistences which are very di cult to interpret in the several national surveys (from 1999 to in Mexico [14][15][16]. Moreover, Mexican surveys matched by time and using same methodology for Hb estimation (Hemocue 201+, capillary drop blood) show different prevalence of anemia in children [17,18].…”