Amina Khambalia|Deborah L. O’Connor|Colin Macarthur|Annie Dupuis|Stanley Zlotkin
Periconceptional iron supplementation does not reduce anemia or improve iron status among pregnant women in rural Bangladesh
University of Toronto
growing interest periconceptional iron supplementation developing countries researchers policy makers however randomized controlled trials examine effectiveness strategy decreasing anemia pregnancythe aim determine whether periconceptional iron supplementation reduces anemia pregnancya randomized doubleblind controlled trial conducted rural bangladesh married nulliparous women randomly assigned receive daily iron folic acid ifa 60 mg ferrous fumarate 400 microg folic acid n 134 folic acid fa 400 microg n 138 form powdered supplement added food women followed pregnancy end 9 mo primary outcomes included hemoglobin plasma ferritin plasma transferrin receptor concentrationsamong 88 pregnant women periconceptional ifa comparison fa affect anemia iron status 15 wk gestation however 1 increase adherence associated 10gl increase change hemoglobin baseline p 003 initiated supplementation mean sd time 729 578 conception showed 73gl increase change hemoglobin baseline compared initiated supplementation 263 123 conception p 001 among 146 nonpregnant women ifa decreased anemia odds ratio 019 95 ci 004 095 improved iron stores p 0001 fagood adherence initiation supplementation conception needed reduce anemia early pregnancy trial registered wwwclinicaltrialsgov nct00953134