Effectiveness of Dietary Interventions to Treat Iron-Deficiency Anemia in Women: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to assess the effectiveness of dietary interventions, including increased iron intake and absorption enhancers like vitamin C, for treating iron-deficiency anemia in women of reproductive age.
Results Summary
Most studies supported the effectiveness of dietary interventions, particularly those combining increased iron intake with vitamin C, in treating iron-deficiency anemia. Vitamin D also showed promise, but further research is needed. Only three studies found the interventions ineffective.
Population
Women of childbearing age with iron-deficiency anemia.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Varied from 3 months or less to 6 months or more.
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
dietary interventions | increase | treatment of iron-deficiency anemia | women of childbearing age | - | supported the influence | #1 |
dietary interventions | no change | treatment of iron-deficiency anemia | women of childbearing age | - | was not effective | #2 |
interventions including increasing iron supply and simultaneously increasing its absorption by vitamin C supply | increase | treatment of iron-deficiency anemia | women of childbearing age | - | were all results confirmed effective | #3 |
Vitamin D | increase | treatment of iron-deficiency anemia | women of childbearing age | - | seems to be an effective dietary treatment | #4 |
Iron-deficiency anemia is the most frequent nutritional deficiency, with women of reproductive age being particularly at risk of its development. The aim of the systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of dietary interventions to treat iron-deficiency anemia in women based on the randomized controlled trials. The systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines and registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42021261235). The searching procedure was based on PubMed and Web of Science databases, while it covered records published until June 2021. It included all randomized controlled trials assessing effectiveness of various dietary interventions on treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in women of childbearing age. The total number of 7825 records were screened, while 14 of them were finally included in the systematic review. The studies were screened, included, and reported, and the risk of bias was assessed using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials by two independent researchers. The included studies compared the effectiveness of various dietary interventions with supplementation, placebo, control, or any other dietary intervention, while the assessed dietary interventions were based either on increasing iron supply and/or on increasing its absorption (by increasing vitamin C or vitamin D or decreasing phytate intake). The duration of applied intervention was diversified from 3 months or less, through 4 or 5 months, to half of a year or more. Among the assessed biochemical measures, the following were analyzed in majority of studies: hemoglobin, ferritin, transferrin receptor, hematocrit, and transferrin. The majority of included studies supported the influence of dietary interventions on the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia, as the applied dietary intervention was not effective in only three studies. The majority of included studies were assessed as characterized by medium risk of bias, while the overall risk was high for only four studies, which resulted from the randomization process, deviations from the intended interventions, and selection of the reported result. The majority of included studies were conducted for increasing iron supply and/or increasing vitamin C supply; however, only for the interventions including increasing iron supply and simultaneously increasing its absorption by vitamin C supply were all results confirmed effective. Vitamin D also seems to be an effective dietary treatment, but further studies are necessary to confirm the observations. Considering this fact, dietary interventions recommended for anemic female patients should include increased intake of iron and vitamin C.