Screening and Treatment for Iron Deficiency Anemia in Women: Results of a Survey of Obstetrician-Gynecologists

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Matern Child Health J
• Personal Author:
  Marcewicz, Lauren H. ; Anderson, Britta L. ; Byams, Vanessa R. ; Grant, Althea M. ; Schulkin, Jay
• Description:
  Objective
  
  To better understand the knowledge, attitudes and practices of obstetrician-gynecologists with respect to screening and treatment for iron deficiency anemia (IDA).
  
  Methods
  
  A total of 1,200 Fellows and Junior Fellows of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists were invited to participate in a survey on blood disorders. Respondents completed a questionnaire regarding their patient population, screening and treatment practices for IDA, and general knowledge about IDA and its risk factors.
  
  Results
  
  Overall response rate was 42.4%. Thirty-eight percent of respondents screen non-pregnant patients regularly, based on risk factors; 30.5% screen only when symptoms of anemia are present. For pregnant patients, 50.0% of respondents screen patients at their initial visit, while 46.2% screen every trimester. Sixty-one percent of respondents supplement pregnant patients when there is laboratory evidence of anemia; 31.6% supplement all pregnant patients. Forty-two percent of respondents screen post-partum patients based on their risk factors for IDA. However, when asked to identify risk factors for postpartum anemia, slightly more than half of respondents correctly identified young age and income level as risk factors for post-partum anemia; only 18.9% correctly identified pre-pregnancy obesity as a risk factor.
  
  Conclusion
  
  There are opportunities for increased education on IDA for obstetrician-gynecologists, specifically with respect to risk factors. There also appears to be substantial practice variance regarding screening and supplementation for IDA, which may correspond to variability in professional guidelines. Increased education on IDA, especially the importance of sociodemographic factors, and further research and effort to standardize guidelines is needed.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Adult Anemia Anemia, Iron-Deficiency Anemia In Pregnancy Anemia In Women Female Gynecology Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Humans Iron Defciency Anemia Mass Screening Middle Aged Obstetrics Practice Patterns, Physicians' Pregnancy Surveys And Questionnaires

  More +
• Source:
  Matern Child Health J. 21(8):1627-1633
• Pubmed ID:
  28251440
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5759051
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  21
• Issue:
  8
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:c96c0bd9720ba1470bb7b53e7beb52fb406b5b982ddde3b9a278a701af92c59a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/50773/cdc_50773_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 70.98 KB ]