Daily versus intermittent iron supplementation in pregnant women

• Main Authors: Cherati Shahla, Zeinal Zadeh Mahtab, Basirat Zahra, Bouzari Zinatossadat, Ardebil Maryam, Mohammadnetaj Maedeh, Barat Shahnaz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2011-10-01
• Series: BMC Research Notes
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/4/444

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The 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.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The 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 <it>t </it>and ANOVA tests were used as appropriated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There 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).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This results suggested, three times a week or weekly iron supplementation is as effective as daily supplementation for healthy pregnant women without anemia.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ISRCTN: <a href="http://www.controlled-trials.com/IRCT201101093820N1">IRCT201101093820N1</a></p>