title: Effects of iron deficiency anemia on cognitive function in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effects of iron deficiency anemia on cognitive function and intelligence in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Matched case-control study was carried out with 30 children (aged 6-12 years) with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) but without any chronic disease and with normal neuromotor development. The WISC-R intelligence test was performed before and after 4-6 months of iron/vitamin treatment (5 mg iron/kg/day as iron(III)-hydroxide polymaltose complex, IPC, and multivitamin preparation). Pre- and post-treatment IQ scores of the IDA group were evaluated and compared to the control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Treatment and control groups were similar in terms of age and gender (mean age 9.1 +/- 1.9 years for IDA group, 8.8 +/- 1.5 years for controls, 37 % versus 40 % girls, respectively). Mean total IQ score of the IDA group was 12.9 points lower than that of the control group and this was statistically significant (p < 0.01). Although a highly significant increase of 4.8 points in total IQ was found after treatment with IPC in the IDA group (p < 0.01), post-treatment mean total IQ score of the IDA group was 8.2 points lower than that of the control group. However this difference of 8.2 points was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). There were significant differences in the subtests of WISC-R between the pre-treatment IDA group and the control group. A significant improvement was found especially in these subtests following treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Iron deficiency anemia in children can affect long-term cognitive function. The WISC-R intelligence test subsets and pre- and post-treatment IQ scores of the IDA group were significantly differing from control group.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Capa, Istanbul, Turkey. leyla.agaoglu@gmail.com
authors: Leyla
authors: L
authors: Agaoglu
authors: Oktay
authors: O
authors: Torun
authors: Emin
authors: E
authors: Unuvar
authors: Yasemin
authors: Y
authors: Sefil
authors: Dilek
authors: D
authors: Demir
mesh_terms: D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000523:psychology*; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology