Background: Pregnant women take iron supplements in order to prevent iron deficiency anemia which may have undesirable effects for both the mother and fetus. This study aimed to compare the daily and intermittent dose of iron supplementation in blood and iron indices in healthy pregnant women.Methods: In this clinical trial study, 145 healthy pregnant women were selected with Hb³11g%. The participants were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 received daily iron supplement at 50 mg/day and group 2 received an intermittent dose of 3 times per week. Blood samples were assessed for complete blood count (Hb, Hct, RBC), iron, ferritin and zinc at baseline in the first trimester in all participants and the two groups were compared in regard to mean changes from baseline to the end of the study period in the third trimester. This clinical trial was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (www.irct.ir) with registration number ID: 2012082810682N1.Results: The incidence of iron deficiency anemia was 2.7% in both groups. The mean levels of Hb, Hct and RBC in the first trimester were 13.3 g/dl, 39.4% and 4.5 mil/ml3, respectively. At the end of the study, Hb, Hct, and RBC reduced significantly in both groups compared with baseline values (p<0.05). The difference from baseline in Hb and other blood indices did not differ significantly across the two groups.Conclusion: These findings indicate that daily or intermittent administration of iron supplement to pregnant women has the same outcome. Regarding the side effects of iron in pregnancy, intermittent method seems preferable to daily intake.

Backgrounds and Purpose: Curren WHO strategies of dally Iron Supplementation In the second half of gestational period have not. Reduced the prevalence of anemia in pregnant women during the last decade, and the reasons could be conceived as women's rejection of iron supplementation due to its side effects. Therefore, the present study was conducted to compare daily and twice-weekly iron supplementation regimen and their effects on the pregnancy outcome and maternal hematologic changes.Methods and Materials: The present study is a randomized clinical trial and the study population was the pregnant women admitted to four health centers in Sabzevar, Iran. The sample was 88 pregnant women randomly assigned into two groups (43 daily and 45 twice-weekly).A demographical questionnaire and a study checklist were used for data collection and the obtained data were analyzed using independent Hest, paired Hest, Pearson correlation coefficient and chi-square.Results: The findings revealed that hemoglobin and ferritine changes were similar across the groups. Also, birth weight and gestational age were similar across the two groups and indicated no significant difference.Conclusion: Based on the study findings, the twice-weekly regimen is recommended for iron supplementation because of similar effects, less side effects and its cost-effectiveness in comparison with the daily regimen.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Iron deficiency anemia is one of the most considerable problems of public health. Pregnant women need more iron due to increasing the maternal blood volume, fetal and placental growth. On the other hand, iron overload has undesirable effects. on maternal and fetal health. This study was performed to compare the effect on different doses of iron supplement on healthy pregnant women.METHODS: This cross-sectional and analytical study was performed on 145 healthy pregnant women (20-40 years old) by simple sampling. Control group took daily dose of iron supplement and case group took intermittent doses of iron supplement (3 times per week) from the second trimester. Serum iron and ferritin measured in the first, second and third trimesters.FINDINGS: Concentration of serum iron increased insignificantly in control group at the third trimester compared to the first trimester. Concentration of ferritin decreased significantly in both group at the second and third trimesters compared to the first trimester (p<0.05).CONCLUSION: According to the results, there is no difference between daily and intermittent doses of iron supplement prescribed in pregnant women. So, for prevention of side effects of iron overload, it's recommended to use the intermittent dose of iron supplements in healthy women.

Background: Iron deficiency anemia in adolescence and adulthood, especially in girls, has a high prevalence. One of the strategies for reducing anemia is the implementation of iron supplementation programs. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice of high school girl students about iron supplementation. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 399 female students. A cluster random sampling method was used in the northern, southern, eastern, western, and central parts of the country. Data were collected using a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS V. 20 software. Results: In this study, only 15% and 17% of the students had a proper level of knowledge and a positive attitude toward iron supplementation. Moreover, 77% of the students reported taking iron supplementation and 89% used iron supplements distributed in schools. However, Only 38% of the students stated that used iron supplements in the classroom or after class (at school). There was a significant relationship between the use of distributed pills in schools and knowledge (P = 0. 026) and attitude (P = 0. 016). In addition, there was a statistically significant relationship between the place of supplements use and the knowledge level (P = 0. 032) and attitude (P = 0. 003). Conclusions: Based on the results, students’ knowledge and attitude are not sufficient and the rate of use of distributed pills in schools is relatively low. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out revisions in the implementation process of the iron supplementation program.

Background & Objective: Preterm infants have less iron storage compared with the term one. Due to rapid growth they need more iron during infancy. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of early iron supplementation on hematologic indices and incidence of iron deficiency anemia in preterm infants.Materials & Methods: This experimental study was done on 20-days-old preterm breast-feed infants referred to the Gorgan-North of Iran primary health care services for vaccination, without any underline disease or growth retardation during 2005. They were divided to two groups (n=15 in each) and a questionnaire was completed for each case. Iron drop (2mg/kg) was given in the interventional group. Iron deficiency anemia was assesed in all sample T-student test and chi-square were used to analyze the independent variables and comparing the hematologic indices, after entering in SPSS-13 software and testing the normal distribution with komologrof-smearnoff test. Relative risk index (RR) was used to compare the two groups.Results: The relative risk of iron deficiency anemia in the interventional group was 0.4 folds [RR=0.4,CI %95 for RR=(0.091,1.749)]. No significant difference was seen between the two groups.Conclusion: The finding of this study showed that iron drop supplementation for preterm infant prevent the iron defeciency anemia, although this observation was not significant.

Background and aims: Considering the iron supplementation during pregnancy and the problems due to over using of this supplementation, almostall women take iron supplementation during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the iron supplementation prophylactic on outcome and the problems of pregnancies.Methods: In this double-blind randomized clinical trial study 129 women with Hb>110 g/l, serum ferritin>20 mg/l and gestational age less than 20 weeks were randomly divided to receive either of ferrous sulfate tablets (n=62), 1 table/day (60 mg) or placebo (n=67). Hemoglobin and ferritin were also measured in the 24-28th weeks and at the end of pregnancy. In addition, weight and length were recorded at the beginning and during the pregnancy in both groups. Data were analyzed using independent-t test, ANOVA, and Chi square tests.Results: Iron deficiency prevalence in Fe and placebo groups was found 5.8 and 24.8 percent in the 24-28th weeks (P=0.002) and 9.5 and 28.2 percent at the end of the study respectively. No significant differences were found in hemoglobin and ferritin indices during the study in both groups. Average birth weight was 3.30±0.49 Kg and 3.27±0.47 Kg in Fe and placebo groups, respectively. Average length birth was 49.1±3.9 cm in Fe group versus 49.3±4.4 cm in placebo group. Duration of gestation in Fe and placebo groups were 38.9±1.7 weeks and 38.8±2.2 weeks, respectively (P>0.05).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that iron supplementation during pregnancy may have no effect on pregnancy outcome. It is obvious that because of more iron deficiency prevalence in placebo group, absolute conclusion about whether iron supplementation prophylactic during pregnancy is useful or not, more studies are needed in the future.