Table 1.

Characteristic summary of the included studies (N = 11). ID, iron deficiency.

Study	n	Population	Iron or Zinc Intervention	Baseline Iron or Zinc Status	Study Duration and Dropouts	Outcome Measures
Bruner et al., 1996 [15]	81	American adolescent females, ID only, 13–18 years	Daily dose of 1300 mg ferrous sulphate, equivalent to 260 mg elemental iron	ID = serum ferritin <12 μg/L, with normal haemoglobin (Hb)	8 weeks 8 dropouts	The Brief Test of Attention, Symbol Digits Modalities. The Visual Search and Attention Test, The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test
				IDA ≤ Hb 115 g/L for African American girls or <Hb 120 g/L for caucasian girls
Beard et al., 2005 [21]	95	South African mothers, 18–30 years	Daily dose of 125 mg ferrous sulphate to anaemic mothers	IDA = Hb 90–115 g/L + 2 of the following: mean corpuscular volume <80 femtoliters (fL), transferrin saturation <15%, serum ferritin <12 μg/L	9 months, postpartum 14 dropouts	Edinburgh Post-Natal Depressive Scale, Ravens Coloured Matrices, Perceived Stress Scales
Murray-Kolb and Beard, 2007 [2]	152	American women, 18–35 years	160 mg ferrous sulphate, containing 60 mg elemental iron	ID = Hb ≥120 g/L and two or more other abnormal iron values	16 weeks 39 dropouts	Cognitive Abilities Test
				IDA = Hb between 105 and 119 g/L and two or more other abnormal iron values
McClung et al., [16]	219	Female American soldiers, 15–25 years	100 mg ferrous sulphate, 15.0 elemental iron ± 0.2 mg	ID ≥ 2 of the following 3 indicators: serum ferritin <12 μg/L, transferrin saturation <16% or red blood cell distribution width >15%	8 weeks 48 dropouts	Profile of Mood States
				IDA = ID + Hb of <120 g/L
Verdon et al., 2003 [24]	144	French females, ID only, 18–55 years	Ferrous sulphate, 80 mg elemental iron as pill	ID = not transparent	4 weeks 12 dropouts	Questionnaire bref d’auto-évaluation des dimensions dépressive, asthénique et anxieuse
				IDA = Hb <117 g/L
Vaucher et al., 2012 [22]	198	Swiss females, ID only, 18–50 years	80 mg ferrous sulphate	ID = Hb ≥120 g/L, and ferritin <50 μg/L	12 weeks 77 dropouts	Current and Past Psychological Scale
Lambert et al., 2002 [23]	121	Adolescent females from New Zealand, ID only, 12.5–17.9 years	105 mg elemental iron	ID = Serum ferritin <12 μg/L, Hb >120 g/L	8 weeks 5 dropouts	Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Stroop Task Visual Search, Reading Span Task, Visual search task
				IDA = Serum ferritin <12 μg/L, Hb <120 g/L
Devaki et al., 2009 [20]	120	Adolescent male and female students from India, 15–18 years	Iron (III) hydroxide polymaltose complex, 100 mg elemental iron	ID boys = Hb ≥115 g/L and transferrin saturation <16%	8 months dropouts not recorded	Ravens Progressive Matrices, Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale, Emotional Quotient
				ID girls = Hb ≥105 g/L and transferrin saturation <16%
				IDA boys = Hb <105 g/L and transferrin saturation <16%
				IDA girls = Hb <105 g/L and transferrin saturation <16%
Siwek et al., 2009 [17]	60	Polish males and females with major depressive disorder, 18–55 years	100–200 mg imipramine (antidepressant) + 25 mg zinc	Serum zinc determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry; baseline zinc deficiency was unclear	12 weeks 9 dropouts	Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Clinical Global Impression Montgomery—Åsberg Depression Rating Scale
Nowak et al., 2003 [18]	20	Polish males and females with major depressive disorder, 25–57 years	clomipramine 125–150 mg, amitriptyline 125–150 mg, citalopram, 20 mg fluoxetine, 40–20 mg (all standard antidepressant treatment) + 25 mg zinc	Unclear	12 weeks 6 dropouts	Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory
Sawada and Yokoi, 2010 [19]	60	Japanese females, non-anaemic, 18–21 years	Multivitamins + 7 mg elemental zinc	Serum zinc determined by inductively coupled argon plasma-mass spectrometer; no other details provided on this	10 weeks dropouts not recorded	Profile of Mood States