Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Daily Versus Weekly Oral Iron Supplementation In Preventing Anemia During Pregnancy

Abstract

Objectives: To compare mean haemoglobin and hematocrit in non-pregnant females taking daily oral iron vs. weekly iron supplements in the third trimester of pregnancy. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of haemoglobin level before taking iron therapy. Mean post-treatment haemoglobin was 13.2±0.9a/d1 in group A and 12.9±0.95 g/dl in group B (0.18), mean change of haemoglobin was 1.07±0.34 011 g/dl in group A and 0.63±0.56 g/dl in group B (0.000), mean post-treatment hematocrit was 35.857±0.87 % in group A and 32.857±0.9l % in group B (p 0.000) mean change of hematocrit was 2.942±0.59 % in group A and 1.000±0.00% in group B (p 0.000). Conclusion: Weekly iron supplementation in non-anaemic pregnant women is as effective as daily iron supplementation in terms of improvement in haemoglobin level.