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Iron status among 3005 women aged 20-55 years in Central Norway: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (the HUNT study)
B Borch-Iohnsen1, B Sandstad, A Asberg
1Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Norway. berit.borch-iohnsen@basalmed.uio.no
Objective:
To describe the iron status of Norwegian women of fertile age, to show the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia and iron overload, and to demonstrate possible factors connected to and/or influencing iron status.
Material And Methods:
The diagnostic criteria were: (a) anemia: hemoglobin (Hb) < 120, < 117, or < 115 g/l; (b) depleted iron stores: serum ferritin (SF) < 10 or 12 microg/l; iron-deficiency anemia: (a)+(b). Iron overload: SF > or = 110 microg/l. The study was conducted in Central Norway where a total of 3005 women aged 20 to 55 years were enrolled in a health survey program (the HUNT Study). None of the women were pregnant and none had been blood donors in the two previous years.
Results:
Median SF was 31.0 microg/l. Depleted iron stores were present in 10.9 and 15.1%, respectively. The Hb 2.5%tile among the iron-replete women was 117 g/l. With this cut-off value, anemia was present in 4.7% and iron-deficiency anemia in about 3%. Iron overload was present among 5.2%, and homozygous primary hemochromatosis among 0.4%.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia was relatively low and similar to that found earlier in small groups of Norwegian women. The prevalence is comparable with results from other developed countries.