Table 4.
Mean values of biomarkers of micronutrient status in infants (aged 6–12 months) and pre-schoolers (aged 29–56 months) with mild, moderate and no anaemia, Nalgonda district, Telangana, India
| Ferritin (µg/l)* | sTfR (mg/l)* | sTfR/log ferritin (mg/µg) | Zn (µmol/l) | Folate (nmol/l) | Vitamin B12 (pmol/l) | Maternal Hb (g/l) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaemia | Mean | 95 % CI | Mean | 95 % CI | Mean | 95 % CI | Mean | 95 % CI | Mean | 95 % CI | Mean | 95 % CI | Mean | 95 % CI |
| Infants | ||||||||||||||
| Moderate anaemia | 18·6a | 15·8, 21·4 | 3·9a | 3·6, 4·1 | 3·8 a | 3·4, 4·1 | 17·0a | 16·2, 17·7 | 25·8a | 24·3, 27·5 | 248a | 225, 270 | 116a | 114·6, 118·1 |
| Mild anaemia | 23·8a,b | 20·9, 26·8 | 2·8b | 2·6, 2·9 | 2·2b | 2·1, 2·4 | 17·8a,b | 16·8, 18·7 | 26·3a | 24·0, 28·4 | 255a | 232, 279 | 119a | 116·5, 121·3 |
| No anaemia | 24·7b | 21·8, 27·6 | 2·7b | 2·6, 2·8 | 2·2b | 2·1, 2·4 | 19·0b | 18·1, 19·8 | 28·6a | 26·6, 30·4 | 294b | 270, 319 | 127b | 124·7, 130·0 |
| Total | 22·0 | 20·3, 23·6 | 3·2 | 3·0, 3·3 | 2·9 | 2·7, 3·0 | 17·9 | 17·4, 18·3 | 26·7 | 25·6, 27·9 | 266 | 252, 279 | 121 | 119·3, 120·1 |
| n | 464 | 473 | 464 | 458 | 466 | 466 | 474 | |||||||
| P value | <0·001 | <0·001 | <0·001 | <0·002 | 0·102 | 0·012 | <0·001 | |||||||
| Pre-schoolers | ||||||||||||||
| Moderate anaemia | 15·1a | 11·0, 20·6 | 5·0a | 4·8, 5·2 | 5·5a | 5·2, 6·0 | 14·1a | 12·7, 15·4 | 10·8a | 9·7, 11·8 | 325a | 284, 367 | 118a | 113·7, 121·3 |
| Mild anaemia | 16·6a,b | 11·8, 26·5 | 3·1b | 2·9, 3·4 | 3·2b | 2·8, 3·6 | 13·7a | 12·3, 15·0 | 11·1a | 10·0, 12·1 | 317a | 275, 359 | 120a | 116·4, 124·1 |
| No anaemia | 20·0b | 17·4, 23·9 | 2·7c | 2·5, 2·9 | 2·5c | 2·1, 2·8 | 13·6a | 12·4, 14·9 | 12·8b | 12·1, 13·5 | 314a | 283, 345 | 125b | 121·6, 127·5 |
| Total | 17·8 | 15·2, 20·2 | 3·6 | 3·5, 3·8 | 3·7 | 3·5, 4·0 | 13·8 | 12·6, 15·0 | 11·6 | 11·0, 12·1 | 319 | 293, 344 | 122 | 121·6, 127·5 |
| n | 314 | 299 | 299 | 307 | 314 | 314 | 300 | |||||||
| P value | <0·001 | <0·001 | <0·001 | 0·660 | 0·001 | 0·816 | 0·003 | |||||||
sTfR, soluble transferrin receptor; moderate anaemia, Hb=70–100 g/l; mild anaemia, Hb=100–<110 g/l; no anaemia, Hb>110 g/l.
Mean values of micronutrients were compared along the column between the different stages of anaemia using ANOVA and post hoc least significant difference. Mixed models were used for analysis of pre-school data considering clustering effects.
a,b,cMean values within a column with unlike superscript letters were significantly different (P<0·05).
*
Log transformed before analysis.