International Journal of General Medicine (Oct 2020)

Prevalence of Anemia Among Jazan University Students

  • Hamali HA,
  • Mobarki AA,
  • Saboor M,
  • Alfeel A,
  • Madkhali AM,
  • Akhter MS,
  • Dobie G

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 13
pp. 765 – 770

Abstract

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Hassan A Hamali, Abdullah A Mobarki, Muhammad Saboor, Aymen Alfeel, Aymen M Madkhali, Mohammad S Akhter, Gasim Dobie Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Gizan, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Hassan A HamaliDepartment of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, P.O. Box 1906, Gizan 45142, Saudi ArabiaTel +966581155585Email [email protected]: Anemia is one of the most common disorders affecting the population in both low-income and developing countries. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency in apparently normal male and female students of Jazan University, Saudi Arabia.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Gizan, Saudi Arabia. One hundred thirty-four (85 males and 49 females) healthy students with no outward signs of illness were recruited. A specific questionnaire related to sociodemographic and health characteristics was designed and validated. The collected samples were analyzed for complete blood count, serum iron, and serum ferritin.Results: In the male group, 81 participants (95.3%) were nonanemic with normal hemoglobin (14.99 ± 1.11g/dl), whereas only 4 males were anemic (hemoglobin < 13.0 g/dl). On the other hand, anemia was more prevalent in female students, as 67.35% had hemoglobin values less than 12.0 g/dl. In addition, 26.54% of the anemic females had low serum iron and serum ferritin, indicating iron-deficiency anemia. Although the majority of male participants had normal hemoglobin levels, 37.6% of them had low mean cell volume (MCV), low mean cell hemoglobin (MCH), low mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and high red blood cell (RBC) counts, suggesting thalassemia.Conclusion: Anemia, in particular iron-deficiency anemia, was found to be highly prevalent in females, whereas more than one-third of the male participants might be carriers of alpha or beta thalassemia. Additionally, low dietary iron intake and irregular meal consumption could be two of the possible causes of anemia in the study population. Conducting this study on a large scale of male and female students from different faculties of Jazan University will provide in-depth details about the prevalence and types of anemia among them.Keywords: anemia, iron deficiency, students, Jazan University

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