https://doi.org/10.37527/2021.71.S1
1Emory University, Atlanta, United States, 2Nutrition International, Ottawa, Canada, 3Food Fortification Initiative & Emory University, Atlanta, United States
Background and objective. Anemia is a widespread public health problem. While anemia can be caused by malaria, schistosomiasis, or chronic kidney disease, nutritional deficiencies are among the biggest causes. The purpose of this project was to review literature to identify the proportion of anemia in women of childbearing age due to deficiencies of specific nutrients including iron, folate, vitamin B12, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, thiamine, and vitamin E.
Methods. A search of 17 online databases between November 14, 2020 and December 14, 2020 yielded 5,598 results. Two reviewers independently screened document abstracts and titles via Covidence. The inclusion criteria were as follows. longitudinal intervention studies, including non-randomized controlled trials, randomized controlled trials, and intervention trials without control groups; micronutrients were provided to anemic women to observe if their anemia was eliminated; and micronutrients were administered orally for at least four weeks. Primary outcomes were change in hemoglobin concentration and change in anemia prevalence. Studies will be synthesized using armbased network meta-analysis with the pcnetmeta package in R.
Results. We expect individual and pooled estimates of the effect sizes of each micronutrient and combinations of micronutrients on nutritional anemia reduction among women of reproductive age. Results will be stratified by delivery method of treatment, study duration, age of women (10-19, 15-49, 10-50 years), nutrient administered, and dosage of nutrient administered.
Conclusions. We expect further evidence of the impact of oral micronutrient treatments (singly or combined) on hemoglobin concentration and anemia prevalence. This project will provide an up-to-date perspective on a variety of micronutrient treatments for anemia. Compared to previous systematic reviews, which usually focus on only one or two nutrients, this analysis will compare oral treatments with multiple nutrients across low-, middle- and highincome countries.