Anaemia, iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia among blood donors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
BACKGROUND
There is paucity of information on the effect of blood donation on iron stores in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The present study was, therefore, designed to assess, using a combination of haemoglobin and iron status parameters, the development of anaemia and prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia in this area of Nigeria.


METHODS
Three hundred and forty-eight unselected consecutive whole blood donors, comprising 96 regular donors, 156 relatives of patients and 96 voluntary donors, constituted the study population. Three haematological parameters (haemoglobin, packed cell volume, and mean cell haemoglobin concentration) and four biochemical iron parameters (serum ferritin, serum iron, total iron binding capacity and transferrin saturation) were assessed using standard colorimetric and ELISA techniques.


RESULTS
The prevalence of anaemia alone (haemoglobin <11.0 g/dL) was 13.7%. The prevalence of isolated iron deficiency (serum ferritin <12 ng/mL) was 20.6% while that of iron-deficiency anaemia (haemoglobin <11.0 g/dL + serum ferritin <12.0 ng/mL) was 12.0%. Among the three categories of the donors, the regular donors were found to be most adversely affected as shown by the reduction in mean values of both haematological and biochemical iron parameters. Interestingly, anaemia, iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anaemia were present almost exclusively among regular blood donors, all of whom were over 35 years old.


CONCLUSIONS
Anaemia, iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anaemia are highly prevalent among blood donors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. It will be necessary to review the screening tests for the selection of blood donors and also include serum ferritin measurement for the routine assessment of blood donors, especially among regular blood donors.
Jeremiah
Zaccheaus Awortu
ZA
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. zacjerry@yahoo.com
Koate
Baribefe Banavule
BB
D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000747:Anemia, Hypochromic / Q000453:epidemiology; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004909:Erythrocyte Indices; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood; D006400:Hematocrit; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D014168:Transferrin / Q000032:analysis
D006454:Hemoglobins; D014168:Transferrin; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron
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