The Effects of Iron Therapy on HbA2 Levels in Patients with Iron Deficiency Anaemia; A Study in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effect of iron treatment in a post-therapy group of patients with Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) in the population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).

Methodology: This quasi-interventional study was conducted from January 2021 to January 2022 at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) and the Institute of Pathology and Diagnostic Medicine, Hematology Laboratory. The participants were aged 8–15 years. To assess the response to iron therapy in both pre- and post-therapy iron-deficient groups, an Electronic Particle Counter (EPC) was used to measure Mean Cell Volume (MCV), and a chemiluminescence immunoassay was used to measure serum ferritin levels in biofluids. SPSS version 19.0 was used for data analysis. A paired T-test was performed for the mean/SD of all hematological parameters recorded before and after iron treatment. Pearson correlation was used to determine the strength of the association between pre- and post-therapy hematological parameters. The level of significance was set at P<0.05.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 9.5±3.5 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 2:1.5. A positive correlation was found between pre- and post-therapy hemoglobin levels (Hb1 and Hb2; r = 0.851) and between pre- and post-therapy MCV values (r = 0.806). The mean MCV before treatment was 55.30±7.42 fL, which increased significantly to 75.82±4.66 fL by day 180 (P<0.001). Similarly, the mean hemoglobin level, which was initially 9.22±1.17 g/dL, increased to 11.22±1.21 g/dL by day 180 (6 months) with a high level of significance (P<0.001). The greatest difference between pre- and post-treatment was observed in ferritin levels (19.66±6.79 ng/mL vs. 62.48±4.82 ng/mL, P<0.001). There was a statistically significant increase in hemoglobin levels (P<0.001), MCV (P<0.001), serum ferritin (P<0.001), and hemoglobin A2 levels.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated statistically significant improvements in hematological parameters following iron therapy, both orally and intravenously, validating the effectiveness of iron treatment in IDA patients.