Contributing factors to iron deficiency anemia in women in Jordan: A single-center cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to understand the impact of iron deficiency anemia in female users of a hematology service in a developing country. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study of adult and adolescent women with iron deficiency anemia who presented to a hospital department of hematology. SETTING: A tertiary university hospital inpatient and outpatient hematology service. PARTICIPANTS: All female patients who were ≥13 years of age with confirmed iron deficiency anemia and received hospital hematology services. RESULTS: A total of 208 patients were enrolled and analyzed in the registry. The mean age of the patients was 41.4 years (range, 14–82). A total of 195 patients had anemia that was moderate or severe according to the World Health Organization anemia classification with 13 patients having mild anemia. A total of 108 patients had comorbidities, which were primarily endocrine and cardiovascular. Iron deficiency anemia was associated with very heavy (n = 56, 30%) or heavy menses (n = 84, 45%) in 140 patients and was associated with poor (<200 g/week of red meat) (n = 101, 54%) or very poor (vegan, strict vegetarian) nutrition (n = 34, 18%) in 135 patients. A total of 101 patients had a previous pregnancy history with a mean of six previous pregnancies (range, 1–11 pregnancy episodes per patient). Blood film was performed on all patients; only four had a picture consistent with thalassemia minor. CONCLUSION: Iron deficiency anemia is caused by multiple factors. Heavy menses and low consumption of red meat were found to be associated with the severity of anemia. Our findings may be useful for healthcare planners and policy makers in increasing efforts to reduce the prevalence and severity of iron deficiency anemia among women in Jordan.