Iron Status of Premenopausal Women in a Nigerian University Community

Premenopausal women are most susceptible to iron deficiency. Iron deficiency occurs in about 25% of pre-menopausal women due to the increased iron loss from menstruation. This study aims at assessing the iron status of premenopausal women in a university community in Lagos, Nigeria, in order to determine the occurrence of anaemia among the subjects. A total of 98 Academic and Non-academic female staff of the Lagos State university, Lagos, Nigeria aged 22-46 years participated in this study. They were subjected to anthropometry measurements which include measurements of height, weight and BMI. Blood haematocrit and haemoglobin levels were determined by the microhaematocrit centrifugation and cynomethemoglobin methods, while serum Iron was estimated by the bathophenanthroline method. Linear regression analysis was used to test the association between haemoglobin (Hb), Packed Cell Volume (PCV) and Serum Iron (SI) levels of the subjects. There was an inverse relationship between PVC and SI which was statistically significant (p<0.05). Serum Iron and Haemoglobin were observed to have a positive and significant correlation (r = 0.967, p<0.05). There was an inverse correlation between haematological parameters and age which was not significant (p>0.05). 13.16% of all subjects showed anaemia. The distribution of SI values in anaemia was (Hb<11 g dL-1) and non-anaemic (Hb>11 g dL-1). A 44.7% of the premenopausal women had haemoglobin level below 12 g dL-1 which puts them at a very high risk of nutritional anaemia.