The effects of oral iron supplementation on cognition in older children and adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

To assess whether iron supplementation improved cognitive domains: concentration, intelligence, memory, psychomotor skills and scholastic achievement.Searches included MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL and bibliographies (to November 2008). Inclusion, data extraction and validity assessment were duplicated, and the meta-analysis used the standardised mean difference (SMD). Subgrouping, sensitivity analysis, assessment of publication bias and heterogeneity were employed.Fourteen RCTs of children aged 6+, adolescents and women were included; no RCTs in men or older people were found. Iron supplementation improved attention and concentration irrespective of baseline iron status (SMD 0.59, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.90) without heterogeneity. In anaemic groups supplementation improved intelligence quotient (IQ) by 2.5 points (95% CI 1.24 to 3.76), but had no effect on non-anaemic participants, or on memory, psychomotor skills or scholastic achievement. However, the funnel plot suggested modest publication bias. The limited number of included studies were generally small, short and methodologically weak.There was some evidence that iron supplementation improved attention, concentration and IQ, but this requires confirmation with well-powered, blinded, independently funded RCTs of at least one year's duration in different age groups including children, adolescents, adults and older people, and across all levels of baseline iron status.Anaemia, defined as 'a reduction in the quantity of the oxygen-carrying pigment haemoglobin in the blood'[1], is a major global public health problem. It is estimated that 25% of the world's population have anaemia, and approximately 50% of cases are due to iron deficiency [2] where the anaemia is caused by an inadequate supply of iron to form haemoglobin (Hb). Lower concentrations of Hb result in a number of symptoms such as weakness and general fatigue, and adverse effects on the immune system [3]. In more severe cases a need to increase