Evaluation of factors in a primary care setting which may cause failure to respond to oral iron treatment in iron deficiency anaemia patients

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate therapeutic outcomes in patients treated for iron deficiency anaemia and to analyse potential factors relevant to therapy success or failure. Methods Adult iron deficiency anaemia patients attending a primary care centre and prescribed at least 80 mg elemental iron per day were enrolled and followed up after duration of at least 5–8 weeks. Factors relevant to therapy success or failure were investigated. Results One hundred and seven patients were interviewed and 65 patients provided blood samples at follow‐up. Thirty‐seven patients (56.9%) were found refractory to iron therapy. More than half of patients reported having iron‐related side effects (56.9%). Almost half of patients (47.7%) stated that they stopped iron therapy sometime during their follow‐up period. Thirty patients (46.2%) stated that pharmacist educated them about iron therapy indication and usage and three patients (4.6%) stated that pharmacist educated them about drug–drug and drug–food interactions. Conclusion Response to iron therapy was suboptimal. There was no correlation between response to iron therapy and other studied factors such as gastrointestinal side effects, menstrual cycle history, past medical history of peptic ulcer, celiac disease or level of iron therapy education provided to patients.

Hematological responses to iron-folate supplementation and its determinants in pregnant women attending antenatal cares in Mekelle City, Ethiopia

“…This was slightly higher than the reports of Tahaineh et al from Jordan (43.1% non-response rate) [29]. Since we included patients that were adherent and consumed IFA supplementation for at least one month, non-compliance and short duration are not the likely causes for the failure of hemoglobin response.…”