Daily versus intermittent iron supplementation in pregnant women

Abstract

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was compare of daily iron supplementation in three time frames- daily, weekly and three time weekly supplementation in preventing anemia in healthy pregnant women.MethodThe present study was a prospective simply randomized clinical trial. During January 2006- January 2008, 150 healthy pregnant women without anemia, in their 16th week of pregnancy were randomly allocated into three equal groups. The first group (n = 50) received a 50 mg-ferrous sulfate tablet daily, second group (n = 50) received a 50 mg-ferrous sulfate tablet three times a week, and the third group (n = 50) received two 50 mg-ferrous sulfate tablets (100 mg) weekly, respectively for 12 consecutive weeks. Serum hemoglobin, ferritin, and iron were measured before and after the supplementation. Paired t and ANOVA tests were used as appropriated.ResultsThere were no significant differences between the pre- and post-treatment hemoglobin levels with iron supplementation in the three group (P = 0.518, P = 0.276, respectively). The mean serum iron level before and after treatment with iron supplementation in the three groups was not statistically significant (P = 0.962, P = 0.970, respectively). Although the mean serum ferritin level before and after treatment with iron supplementation was statistically significant in the three groups, no significant differences were found comparing the three groups (P = 0.827, P = 0.635 respectively).ConclusionsThis results suggested, three times a week or weekly iron supplementation is as effective as daily supplementation for healthy pregnant women without anemia.Trial RegistrationISRCTN: IRCT201101093820N1

The effect of SMS messaging on the compliance with iron supplementation among pregnant women in Iran: a randomized controlled trial

“…Although the mean serum ferritin level before and after supplementation with iron was significant in each group, no significant differences were found between the groups. 21 Our results are in line with Bouzari et al . 's study.…”

Estudo da prevalência de anemia gestacional e fatores associados na maternidade de referência do município de Joinville – SC

“…Quanto à anemia por trimestre, as maiores prevalências foram encontradas no 2º trimestre (30,2%) e no 3º trimestre (26,7%), isso porque a necessidade de ferro aumenta principalmente no 2º trimestre para compensar a expansão de eritrócitos e no 3º trimestre para permitir o crescimento da placenta e do feto, resultando em maior risco de desenvolvimento de anemia ferropriva 20 .…”

“…No tocante à necessidade de ferro durante a gestação, a suplementação ferrosa com 30 a 60 mg de sulfato ferrosos diariamente é recomendada pela OMS como profilaxia à todas as gestantes 29 . Entretanto, novos estudos questionam a suplementação rotineira e global, sugerindo que a prescrição individual seja preferida ao se considerar as necessidades de cada gestante, isso porque a suplementação férrica excessiva pode resultar em desfechos negativos tanto ao recém-nascido quanto para a mãe 13,20,30 . Na população estudada 85,7% fizeram a suplementação, com variação considerável na distribuição de frequências de consumo do sulfato ferroso.…”

Safe and effective delivery of supplemental iron to healthy older adults: The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial protocol of the Safe Iron Study

“…In the treatment of iron deficiency, weekly supplementation has been recommended as it presents feasibility and economic advantages to daily supplementation. In various populations, including iron-deficient, anemic lactating women 36 , non-anemic pregnant women 37 , non-anemic pregnant women 38 , 39 and iron-deficient, anemic school-aged children 40 , it has been demonstrated that a weekly dose of FeSO 4 can be as effective in improving iron status parameters, but produce lower GI complaints, compared to daily supplementation. Although these studies support the hypothesis that weekly FeSO 4 supplementation is advantageous over daily supplementation, few studies have directly assessed adverse effects of weekly iron supplementation administration.…”