Abstract
Background: Pregnancy significantly increases the need for iron. The
prevalence of anemia in pregnant women is high, affecting 41.8% of all
pregnant women worldwide. In patients with low tolerance to oral iron,
it is recommended to start them on parenteral iron therapy but with
variable degree of efficacy. Hence this meta-analysis was done with the
following aim. Aim: This study aims to assess the efficacy of various
iron preparations in pregnant women with Iron deficiency anemia (IDA).
Methods: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (available as full free
text) which included iron therapy in pregnant women with iron deficiency
anemia were retrieved from electronic databases viz. PubMed, Google
scholar and IndMed, with specific search terms. Qualities of RCTs were
assessed using JADAD score and four RCTs with high score were included
for analysis using RevMan 5.3 software. Outcome measures were change in
hemoglobin levels and serum ferritin concentration after one month of
therapy. Results: In the four RCTs included, a total of 267 patients
were treated with oral iron and 267 patients were treated with
parenteral iron therapy. Change in the hemoglobin levels between the 2
groups had a standard mean difference of 0.73, 95% CI (-0.05-1.52),
with the p-value of 0.07. To assess the change in the serum ferritin
concentration a total of 188 patients in oral iron and 197 patients in
parenteral iron therapy were included. There was a standard mean
difference of 0.88, 95% CI (0.60-1.66), with a p-value of
<0.00001.