Ghamri Ranya, Alsulami Hadeel
Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.
Cureus. 2024 Jul 27;16(7):e65505. doi: 10.7759/cureus.65505. eCollection 2024 Jul.
Intravenous iron supplementation has been reported to provide a superior safety profile and effectiveness in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) compared to traditional oral iron supplements.
To assess preference for intravenous iron versus oral iron among patients with IDA at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
This observational cross-sectional study included 267 adults diagnosed with IDA or on treatment for IDA at King Abdulaziz University Hospital between February 2023 and March 2024. A specially modified questionnaire was used for the collection of data, which included demographic and treatment-related data. The values of the variables are presented as mean and standard deviation or median and interquartile range. Differences with an asymptotic two-tailed P-value of less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.
The majority of the included patients were women (95.5%), Saudi nationals (90.6%), and from the Western region (98.1%). About half of the included patients were receiving intravenous iron supplementation (51.7%), and the other half were receiving oral iron supplements (48.3%). However, the majority of the patients (74.9%) reported that they preferred intravenous iron treatment. With regard to factors that affected their preference, education level (P = 0.044), employment status (P = 0.009), and income level (P = 0.007) were identified as significant predictors. Among the patients who preferred oral iron therapy, the reason cited by the majority, that is, 79.1%, was that tablets were easier to adhere to than needles, while 50.7% stated that tablets had fewer side effects than needles and 64.2% reported a fear of needles. Among the patients who preferred intravenous iron therapy, the majority, that is, 82.4%, stated that intravenous administration was easier for them. Further, 73.5% were of the opinion that intravenous iron therapy had fewer side effects (73.5%), 27.7% reported that they were unable to swallow iron tablets, and 52.5% reported that they had difficulty remembering to take iron tablets. About a third of patients discontinued oral iron therapy due to changes in bowel habits (35%). Although 18.7% of the patients reported feeling pain with intravenous iron therapy, the majority were satisfied (79.4%) and recommended intravenous iron treatment for anemia to friends and family members (84.6%). In contrast, more than half of the patients on oral therapy were uncomfortable (56.2%) with the treatment. Further, 37.1% were not satisfied with their iron tablets, and 25.1% of patients stated that they would not recommend iron tablets for anemia treatment to their friends or family members.
The majority of the patients preferred intravenous iron therapy to correct IDA because oral therapy was associated with difficulties related to swallowing iron tablets and remembering to take the tablets. Although the results indicate that both therapies have similar effectiveness, patients receiving intravenous treatment appeared to be more satisfied with the treatment and recommended it to friends and family.
据报道，与传统口服铁剂相比，静脉补铁在治疗缺铁性贫血（IDA）方面具有更好的安全性和有效性。
评估沙特阿拉伯吉达阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王大学医院IDA患者对静脉铁剂和口服铁剂的偏好。
这项观察性横断面研究纳入了2023年2月至2024年3月期间在阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王大学医院被诊断为IDA或正在接受IDA治疗的267名成年人。使用一份经过特殊修改的问卷收集数据，包括人口统计学和治疗相关数据。变量值以均值和标准差或中位数和四分位间距表示。渐近双尾P值小于0.05的差异被认为具有统计学意义。
纳入的患者大多数为女性（95.5%）、沙特国民（90.6%），来自西部地区（98.1%）。约一半的纳入患者接受静脉补铁（51.7%），另一半接受口服铁剂（48.3%）。然而，大多数患者（74.9%）报告他们更喜欢静脉补铁治疗。关于影响他们偏好的因素，教育水平（P = 0.044）、就业状况（P = 0.009）和收入水平（P = 0.007）被确定为显著预测因素。在更喜欢口服铁剂治疗的患者中，大多数人（即79.1%）给出的理由是片剂比针剂更容易坚持服用，而50.7%的人表示片剂的副作用比针剂少，64.2%的人报告害怕打针。在更喜欢静脉补铁治疗的患者中，大多数人（即82.4%）表示静脉给药对他们来说更容易。此外，73.5%的人认为静脉补铁治疗的副作用更少（73.5%），27.7%的人报告他们无法吞咽铁片，52.5%的人报告他们难以记住服用铁片。约三分之一的患者因肠道习惯改变而停止口服铁剂治疗（35%）。尽管18.7%的患者报告静脉补铁治疗时有疼痛感，但大多数人感到满意（79.4%），并向朋友和家人推荐静脉补铁治疗贫血（84.6%）。相比之下，超过一半接受口服治疗的患者对治疗感到不舒服（56.2%）。此外，37.1%的人对他们的铁片不满意，25.1%的患者表示他们不会向朋友或家人推荐铁片用于贫血治疗。
大多数患者更喜欢静脉补铁治疗来纠正IDA，因为口服治疗与吞咽铁片和记住服药相关的困难有关。尽管结果表明两种疗法具有相似的有效性，但接受静脉治疗的患者似乎对治疗更满意，并向朋友和家人推荐。
