title: Anemia Screening and Treatment Outcomes of Children in a Low-resource Community in the Dominican Republic.
abstract: Iron is often initiated for children with low hemoglobin values in the absence of other indicators of iron deficiency in low-resource settings. Unfortunately, there are few reports describing outcomes from such an approach outside of clinical trials. This study examined outcomes of an anemia screening and treatment service in a low-resource community in the Dominican Republic. Complete blood counts (CBC) and receipt of iron supplementation were extracted from health records of young children participating in a well-baby clinic in the targeted community. Of the 265 children screened, 68.7% had hemoglobin values <11.0 g/dl; 61.5% of these anemic children had follow-up CBCs. While 72.3% of those with follow-up CBCs picked-up some iron supplements, only 21.4% had a follow-up hemoglobin ≥11.0 g/dl. Amount of iron given was not related to change in hemoglobin at follow-up. More follow-up monitoring of quality and impact of community care is required with associated evidence-informed benchmark targets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CANADA jmclenna@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: McLennan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CANADA.
authors.forename: MacGregor
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steele
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004293:Dominican Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood; D019266:Iron, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D019266:Iron, Dietary; D007501:Iron
keywords: Dominican Republic; anemia; child; iron; quality of health care