Table 5.
Univariate analysis: Clinical and biochemical factors related to cause of iron deficiency anaemia in patients with out gastrointestinal symptoms
| Cause of Iron Deficiency Identified (n = 68) | Cause of Iron deficiency not identified (n = 27) | Odds ratio | 95% CI | P value | |
| Clinical variables | |||||
| Age (yrs) Mean (SD) | 55(14) | 44(20) | 1.04 | 1.01 – 1.07 | 0.004 |
| Age ≥ 55 yrs † | 34(50%) | 06(22.2%) | 3.5 | 1.2 – 9.7 | 0.01 |
| NSAID users †† | 18(26.5%) | 04(14.8%) | 2.0 | 0.6 – 6.8 | 0.22 |
| Hx of Weight loss ††† | 19(27.9%) | 10(37.03%) | 0.6 | 0.2 – 1.6 | 0.38 |
| Hx of Fatigue/Lethargy ¶ | 16(23.5%) | 02(7.4%) | 3.8 | 0.8 – 18 | 0.08 |
| Prior Hx of IDA therapy ¶¶ | 08(11.8%) | 01(3.7%) | 3.4 | 0.4 – 29.1 | 0.43 |
| Biochemical Variables | |||||
| Hb (gm/dl) Mean (SD) | 6.9(1.9) | 7.3(2.2) | 0.9 | 0.7 – 1.1 | 0.44 |
| Hb ≤ 9 gm/dl ‡ | 57(83.8%) | 18(66.7%) | 2.5 | 0.9 – 7.2 | 0.06 |
| MCV (fl) Mean (SD) | 60.0(5.5) | 64.0(4.7) | 0.8 | 0.7 – 0.9 | 0.002 |
| MCV 60 fl ‡‡ | 43(63.2%) | 03(11.1%) | 13.7 | 3.7 – 50.3 | <0.001 |
| Serum Iron (μg/ml) Mean (SD) | 11.5(6.5) | 11.3(5.1) | 1.0 | 0.9 – 1.0 | 0.86 |
| Serum Iron ≤ 10 (μg/ml)* | 35(51.4%) | 15(55.5%) | 0.85 | 0.3 – 2.0 | 0.71 |
| TIBC (μg/dl) Mean (SD) | 399(82) | 361(85) | 1.0 | 1.0 – 1.01 | 0.04 |
| Transferrin saturation (%) Mean (SD) | 4.3(2.7) | 4.1(2.0) | 1.9 | 0.7 – 4.9 | 0.67 |
| Ferritin (ng/ml) Mean (SD) | 6.0(4.0) | 6.1(3.3) | 0.99 | 0.8 – 1.1 | 0.88 |
| Ferritin ≤ 5 (ng/ml) ** | 36(52.9%) | 10(37.0%) | 1.9 | 0.7 – 4.7 | 0.17 |
| FOB (Positive) *** | 28(41.2%) | 02(7.4%) | 8.7 | 1.9 – 39.9 | 0.001 |
Reference groups: †Age <55 yrs; ††No NSAIDS use; ††† No Hx of weight loss; ¶No Hx of Fatigue/Lethargy; ¶¶ No Prior Hx of IDA therapy; ‡ Hb > 9 gm/dl; ‡‡ MCV>60 fl; * Serum Iron > 10 (μg/dl); ** Ferritin> 5 (ng/ml); *** FOB (Negative)