IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA
Measures and criteria used to define haematological and
biochemical variables for each subgroup of the study population
Variable
Indicator
Preschool Children
Non-pregnant women
(<60 months)
(>15 years)
Pregnant women
Anaemic
< 11.0 g/dL
Anaemia
Blood
haemoglobin
(Hb)*
Anaemic
Anaemic
Severe Anaemia
<11.0 g/dL
<12.0 g/dL
<7.0 g/dL
Very Severe
Anaemia
<4.0 g/dL
Iron
deficiency
Serum ferritin
(FER)*
Iron
deficiency
Serum soluble
transferrin
receptor (sTfR)
Iron
deficiency
anaemia
<12 ng/mL
(<30 ng/mL in the
presence of infection)
<15 ng/mL
<15 ng/mL
Assay specific cut-off values due to lack of assay standardization
Iron deficiency and
low Hb (below cut-offs for age)
*Iron deficiency anaemia: assessment, prevention and control. A guide for programme
managers. Third Edition. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2007.
Hemoglobin adjustments for pregnancy, altitude, cigarette smoking and
ethnicity**
Trimester of pregnancy
Hemoglobin adjustment (g/dL)
First
+1.0
Second
+1.5
Third
+1.0
Trimester unknown
+1.0
Altitude (m)
m < 1000
--
1000< m <1250
-0.2
1250< m <1750
-0.5
1750< m <2250
-0.8
2250< m <2750
-1.3
2750< m <3250
-1.9
3250< m <3750
-2.7
3750< m <4250
-3.5
4250< m <4750
-4.5
4750< m <5250
-5.5
M > 5250
-6.7
Cigarettes smoked per day
Fewer than 10 cigarettes/day
--
10 < cigarettes/day < 20
-0.3
20 < cigarettes/day
-0.5
Smoker, amount unknown
-0.3
Ethnicity
African extraction
+1.0
** Indicators and Methods for Cross-sectional Surveys of Vitamin and Mineral Status of
Populations, Atlanta, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and
Micronutrient Initiative