Prevalence of iron deficiency at the first age of the infants hospitalized in neonatal period.

ABSTRACT

Iron deficiency (ID) is a global health problem. We aimed to determine the prevalence of ID at the first year of life in infants who were hospitalized in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and investigate the effects of various factors on iron status. One year follow-up data of 219 infants who were discharged from NICU was retrospectively evaluated. ID anemia and ID without anemia were detected in fifteen infants (6.8%) and five (2.3%) infants, respectively. We concluded that, due to prophylactic iron treatment and close follow-up, hospitalization in neonatal period did not have any adverse effect on iron status at first year of life.