Ghosh S, Laxmaiah A, Chandak G R, Meshram I I, Raman R, Sengupta S, Yajnik C S, Kurpad A V, Sachdev H S
St John's Medical College, Bengaluru, India.
Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN), Hyderabad, India.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2025 May;79(5):443-451. doi: 10.1038/s41430-024-01559-w. Epub 2025 Jan 8.
Surveys based on capillary blood show that anaemia is rampant in India, but capillary blood haemoglobin (Hb) may not accurately reflect venous blood Hb concentrations. Further, iron deficiency (ID) is thought to be the main cause of anaemia, there are no venous blood-based surveys to confirm this.
A community-based (urban, slum and rural) cross-sectional, venous blood survey was conducted in eight Indian states to estimate anaemia and ID prevalences from Hb and inflammation-corrected plasma ferritin concentrations in adolescents, adults, and elderly.
The prevalence of anaemia was 44%, 41% and 45% in adolescent girls, adult and elderly women respectively, compared to 24%, 21% and 37% in adolescent boys, adult, and elderly men. The overall prevalence varied widely, ranging from 12% in Meghalaya to 70% in Assam. Mild anaemia prevalence was predominant at about half of overall anaemia prevalence. ID-associated anaemia (IDA) prevalence was less than a third of the overall anaemia prevalence, and varied among age and sex groups, approaching 45% only in adolescent girls. IDA prevalence was even lower in the mild anaemia group. Thus, the major proportion of anaemia in all groups was associated with 'other' causes.
Anaemia prevalence, when measured by venous blood Hb, was substantially lower than earlier capillary blood-based estimates and was predominantly of the mild variety. The prevalence of IDA was also much lower than anticipated; therefore, the aetiological role of ID appears not to be predominant. These results have policy implications for anaemia prevention and correction at the population level.
基于毛细血管血的调查显示，贫血在印度十分猖獗，但毛细血管血血红蛋白（Hb）可能无法准确反映静脉血Hb浓度。此外，缺铁（ID）被认为是贫血的主要原因，但尚无基于静脉血的调查来证实这一点。
在印度八个邦开展了一项基于社区（城市、贫民窟和农村）的横断面静脉血调查，以根据青少年、成年人和老年人血红蛋白及校正炎症后的血浆铁蛋白浓度估算贫血和ID患病率。
青少年女孩、成年女性和老年女性的贫血患病率分别为44%、41%和45%，而青少年男孩、成年男性和老年男性的贫血患病率分别为24%、21%和37%。总体患病率差异很大，从梅加拉亚邦的12%到阿萨姆邦的70%不等。轻度贫血患病率占总体贫血患病率的一半左右，最为普遍。与ID相关的贫血（IDA）患病率不到总体贫血患病率的三分之一，且在不同年龄和性别组中有所不同，仅在青少年女孩中接近45%。IDA患病率在轻度贫血组中更低。因此，所有组中贫血的主要部分与“其他”原因有关。
通过静脉血Hb测量的贫血患病率显著低于早期基于毛细血管血的估计，且主要为轻度贫血。IDA患病率也远低于预期；因此，ID的病因学作用似乎并不突出。这些结果对人群层面的贫血预防和纠正具有政策意义。
