Eight weeks of oral iron supplementation improves postural control in young women with iron deficiency anemia.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the effect of 8-week oral supplementation on postural control in young women with iron deficiency anemia (IDA).

METHODS

This study involved 15 women with IDA who received 160 mg of elemental iron daily in the form of dried ferrous sulfate capsules (80 mg twice daily) taken in two divided doses for 8 weeks. The mean velocity of oscillations of the center of pressure (CoPv) was recorded to evaluate postural control pre- and post-supplementation. In addition, simple reaction time (SRT) and weight discrimination tests were performed to assess attentional capacity and proprioceptive acuity, respectively.

RESULTS

This study revealed significant increases (P < 0.001, mean difference = 1.83, 95% CI: -17.25; -9.42) in proprioceptive acuity values, as well as decreases in CoPv [firm (EO (P < 0.01, mean difference = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.69; 2.92), EC (P < 0.05, mean difference = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.24; 3.45)) and foam (EO (P < 0.001, mean difference = 0.64, 95% CI: 1.71; 4.44) ; EC (P < 0.001, mean difference = 1.04, 95% CI: 3.51; 7.97))] and SRT (P < 0.001, mean difference = 59.31, 95% CI: 103.02; 168.71) values post-supplementation compared to pre-supplementation.

CONCLUSION

This study showed significant improvements in postural control in young women with IDA after 8 weeks of oral iron supplementation. These improvements were probably related to the enhanced bioavailability of iron, which may have influenced neural processes inducing improvements in attention capacity and proprioceptive acuity.