Relationship between active infection and anemia, iron deficiency, iron deficiency anemia: A cross-sectional study in a sub-Saharan setting.

BACKGROUND AND AIM

There have been contradictory reports about the association between infection and iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Based on the high frequency of infection in Cameroon, we have evaluated the frequency of infection as the cause of anemia, and IDA among dyspeptic patients in Cameroon.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study enrolled 842 dyspeptic patients (472 women and 370 men) in two reference hospitals in Douala-Cameroon. Each participant gave a written consent, and the study was approved by the National Ethical Committee. Erythroid-related indices and markers of iron deficiency (ID) measurement were done for each participant as well as detection. Data were analyzed using SSPS statistical package.

RESULTS

The prevalence of anemia, ID, IDA, and infection was 65.08%, 31.47%, 25.65%, and 80.88%, respectively. infected individuals had a significantly lower mean value of hemoglobin ( = 0.01), hematocrit ( = 0.04), ferritin ( = 0.03) and coefficient of transferrin saturation (CTS) levels ( = 0.04) and a significantly higher mean value of mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) ( = 0.02). Compared with non-infected participants, infected patients were 1.2938 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.9087-1.8421), 1.1851 (95% CI: 0.8122-1.7292), and 1.5636 (95% CI: 1.0206-2.3953) times at higher risk to develop anemia, ID, and IDA, respectively. A significant relationship was found between infection and IDA ( = 0.04 and 0.04 for crude and age/sex-adjusted, respectively).

CONCLUSION

infection seems to be associated with anemia, and IDA among dyspeptic patients in our milieu.