title: The incidence, treatment, and follow-up of iron deficiency in a tertiary care pediatric clinic.
abstract: To assess the incidence, treatment, and follow-up of iron deficiency in children seen in a tertiary hospital, a retrospective chart review was performed in 2002 of 364 consecutive children screened for iron deficiency with free erythrocyte protoporphyrin and hemoglobin. Sixty-five of the 352 children studied (18.5%) were iron-deficient and 19 patients (5.4%) were anemic. Eighty percent of the affected children were treated with iron, and only 25% had follow-up blood testing done. Iron deficiency is common in children younger than 2 years of age. Whether or not the children had anemia, treatment and follow-up were less than optimal.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Susan Grant
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Traxler
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Benjamin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D017677:Age Distribution; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007501:Iron / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D007501:Iron