Tampere Center for Child, Adolescent and Maternal Health Research, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Terveystalo Healthcare, Helsinki, Finland.
Acta Paediatr. 2022 Oct;111(10):1933-1940. doi: 10.1111/apa.16454. Epub 2022 Jun 23.
A lack of stored iron, indicated by low serum ferritin, has been associated with various clinical symptoms. There are no longitudinal data on the frequency of ferritin measurements in children and adolescents.
A total of 2834 children aged <18 years with serum ferritin and other anaemia-related blood parameters taken during an outpatient visit between 2012 and 2019 were investigated. Patients with acute infections were excluded. Nationwide temporal and regional variations and correlations with public information searches through Google were analysed.
A significant increase in the frequency of ferritin measurements was seen starting in 2018, with a 47-fold rise in 2019 compared to 2012. A simultaneous escalation in Google Search activity was seen. Deficiency of stored iron was relatively common: 21.6% of children with normal haemoglobin and 14.9% of non-anaemic children with normal red cell indices exhibited ferritin levels below 15 μg/L.
Ferritin measurement has increased greatly among children and adolescents. Our results suggest that public interest and popular trends can significantly influence health care practices. This calls for further investigation into the causes and consequences of such a phenomenon. Prospective randomised intervention studies are needed to evaluate the utility of iron supplementation in patients with low iron storage levels.
血清铁蛋白水平低表明铁储存不足，与各种临床症状有关。目前尚无儿童和青少年铁蛋白检测频率的纵向数据。
对 2012 年至 2019 年期间在门诊就诊时检测了血清铁蛋白和其他与贫血相关的血液参数的 2834 名<18 岁的儿童进行了调查。排除了急性感染患者。分析了全国范围内的时间和地域差异以及与通过谷歌进行的公共信息搜索之间的相关性。
从 2018 年开始，铁蛋白检测的频率显著增加，与 2012 年相比，2019 年增加了 47 倍。同时，谷歌搜索活动也在增加。铁储存不足相对常见：21.6%的血红蛋白正常的儿童和 14.9%的红细胞指数正常的非贫血儿童的铁蛋白水平低于 15μg/L。
儿童和青少年的铁蛋白检测量大大增加。我们的研究结果表明，公众兴趣和流行趋势可能会极大地影响医疗保健实践。这就需要进一步调查这种现象的原因和后果。需要前瞻性随机干预研究来评估在铁储存水平低的患者中补充铁的效用。
