Associated factors in pediatric patients admitted with severe iron-deficiency anemia in the last seven years – the experience of a single pediatric unit

Abstract

Objectives: To study the causes of iron deficiency, laboratory findings and clinical manifestation of infants aged 6–12 months and children aged 1–3 years diagnosed with severe iron-deficiency anemia. Patients, Materials and Methods: We conducted an observational, retrospective single tertiary center study between January 2015 and April 2022, which included 142 children. The control group (patients with no diagnosis of severe iron-deficiency anemia) included 71 patients and the study group (patients diagnosed with severe iron-deficiency anemia) included also 71 patients. Clinical data were retrospectively collected from hospital medical records. Statistical analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25.0 software. Results: Seventy-one children had hemoglobin <7 g/dL and low values of ferritin/serum iron (22 infants aged 6–12 months and 49 children aged 1–3 years). In both the study and control groups, the male gender was slightly more prevalent. Mother’s age at birth and living standard is significantly lower in the study group. We note a higher frequency of premature births (14.08%) in children identified with anemia compared to control group (8.45%). We found a statistically significant distribution of cow’s milk consumption among the two groups (p<0.001). Pearson’s correlation test revealed a significant positive correlation, indicating that anemia is directly proportional to cow’s milk consumption. Conclusions: The most frequent cause of iron-deficiency anemia in infants and children 1–3 years old was the consumption of cow’s milk following incorrect diversification and incomplete prophylaxis of iron-deficiency anemia.