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Identification and treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in pregnancy and postpartum: A systematic review and quality appraisal of guidelines using AGREE II
Mintsopoulos, V., Tannenbaum, E., Malinowski, A. K., Shehata, N., Walker, M.
International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics. 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND Several international guidelines provide recommendations for the optimal management of iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) in the pregnant and postpartum populations. OBJECTIVES To review the quality of guidelines containing recommendations for the identification and treatment of IDA in pregnancy and postpartum using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument and to summarize their recommendations. SEARCH STRATEGY PubMed, Medline, and Embase databases were searched from inception to August 2, 2021. A web engine search was also performed. SELECTION CRITERIA Clinical practice guidelines that focused on the management of IDA in pregnancy and/or postpartum populations were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Included guidelines were appraised using AGREE II independently by two reviewers. Domain scores greater than 70% were considered high-quality. Overall scores of six or seven (out of a possible seven) were considered high-quality guidelines. Recommendations on IDA management were extracted and summarized. MAIN RESULTS Of 2887 citations, 16 guidelines were included. Only six (37.5%) guidelines were deemed high-quality and were recommended by the reviewers. All 16 (100%) guidelines discussed the management of IDA in pregnancy, and 10 (62.5%) also included information on the management of IDA in the postpartum period. CONCLUSIONS The complex interplay of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities was rarely addressed, which limits the generalizability of the recommendations. In addition, many guidelines failed to identify barriers to implementation, strategies to improve uptake or iron treatment, and resource and cost implications of clinical recommendations. These findings highlight important areas to target future work.
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The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Iron Deficiency Anemia Among Pregnant Women in Malaysia: A Systematic Review
Abd Rahman R, Idris IB, Isa ZM, Rahman RA, Mahdy ZA
Frontiers in nutrition. 2022;9:847693
Abstract
Anemia in pregnancy is defined as a hemoglobin level of <11 g/dl, and is commonly due to iron deficiency. This systematic review was conducted to determine the prevalence and risk factors of anemia and iron deficiency among pregnant women in Malaysia. A systematic literature search was conducted in Google Scholar, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guideline. Eight studies comprising a total number of 2,638 pregnant women were included in this review. Only two studies focused on iron deficiency, whereas the other six investigated anemia in pregnancy without specifying iron deficiency or any other nutritional cause for the anemia, signifying the lack of published literature on this important public health nutritional issue in Malaysia. The overall prevalence of anemia in pregnancy ranged from 19.3 to 57.4%, while the prevalence of iron deficiency was 31.6 to 34.6%. Factors that were significantly associated with anemia in pregnancy were extremes of reproductive age, late antenatal booking, non-compliance to hematinics, Indian ethnicity, being in the second or third trimester, low maternal educational level, low family income, and unemployment. The prevalence of anemia in pregnancy was found to be higher in rural compared to urban areas. Meanwhile, in terms of iron deficiency anemia, grandmultiparity, late antenatal booking and Indian ethnicity were significant determinants. It is certainly plausible that the anemia in pregnancy reported in these studies is not entirely secondary to iron deficiency and may be attributable to other nutritional deficiencies, emphasizing the importance of researching deeper into this subject. Nevertheless, in the meantime, focusing on iron supplementation in high-risk mothers with emphasis on compliance, seems to be the best option, in view of the high prevalence of iron deficiency found in this review.
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Prenatal anemia and postpartum hemorrhage risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Omotayo MO, Abioye AI, Kuyebi M, Eke AC
The journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research. 2021
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) has remained the leading cause of maternal mortality. While anemia is a leading contributor to maternal morbidity, molecular, cellular and anemia-induced hypoxia, clinical studies of the relationship between prenatal-anemia and PPH have reported conflicting results. Therefore, our objective was to investigate the outcomes of studies on the relationships between prenatal anemia and PPH-related mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS Electronic databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, PROSPERO, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were searched for studies published before August 2019. Keywords included "anemia," "hemoglobin," "postpartum hemorrhage," and "postpartum bleeding." Only studies involving the association between anemia and PPH were included in the meta-analysis. Our primary analysis used random effects models to synthesize odds-ratios (ORs) extracted from the studies. Heterogeneity was formally assessed with the Higgins' I(2) statistics, and explored using meta-regression and subgroup analysis. RESULTS We found 13 eligible studies investigating the relationship between prenatal anemia and PPH. Our findings suggest that severe prenatal anemia increases PPH risk (OR = 3.54; 95% CI: 1.20, 10.4, p-value = 0.020). There was no statistical association with mild (OR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.31, 1.17, p-value = 0.130), or moderate anemia (OR = 2.09; 95% CI: 0.40, 11.1, p-value = 0.390) and the risk of PPH. CONCLUSION Severe prenatal anemia is an important predictive factor of adverse outcomes, warranting intensive management during pregnancy. PROSPERO Registration Number: CRD42020149184; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=149184.
PICO Summary
Population
Pregnant women with prenatal anaemia (13 studies).
Intervention
Systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between prenatal anaemia and postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) related mortality.
Comparison
Outcome
Severe prenatal anaemia was associated with increased PPH risk (OR = 3.54). There was no statistical association with mild (OR = 0.60), or moderate anaemia (OR = 2.09) and the risk of PPH.
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Comparative efficacy and safety of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose and iron sucrose for iron deficiency anemia in obstetric and gynecologic patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Shin HW, Go DY, Lee SW, Choi YJ, Ko EJ, You HS, Jang YK
Medicine. 2021;100(20):e24571
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is common among obstetric and gynecologic patients. This systematic review aimed to assess the comparative efficacy and safety of commonly used intravenous (IV) iron formulations, ferric carboxymaltose (FCM), and iron sucrose (IS) in the treatment of IDA in obstetric and gynecologic patients. METHODS We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Google Scholar for eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing IV iron replacement using FCM and IS up to October 2019. The primary outcome was to compare the efficacy of FCM and IS, assessed by measuring serum hemoglobin (Hb) and ferritin levels before and after iron replacement. The secondary outcome was to compare the safety of FCM and IS, assessed by the incidence of adverse events during iron replacement. The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3. RESULTS We identified 9 RCTs with 910 patients (FCM group, n = 456; IS group, n = 454). Before iron replacement, FCM and IS group patients had similar baseline Hb (mean difference [MD], 0.04 g/dL; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.07 to 015; I2 = 0%; P = 0.48) and ferritin levels (MD, -0.42 ng/mL; 95% CI, -1.61 to 0.78; I2 = 45%; P = 0.49). Following iron replacement, patients who received FCM had higher Hb (MD, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.25-1.08; I2 = 92%; P = 0.002) and ferritin levels (MD, 24.41; 95% CI, 12.06-36.76; I2 = 75%; P = 0.0001) than patients who received IS. FCM group showed a lower incidence of adverse events following iron replacement than IS group (risk ratio, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.35-0.80; I2 = 0%; P = 0.003). Serious adverse events were not reported in any group. CONCLUSION FCM group showed better efficacy in increasing Hb and ferritin levels and a favorable safety profile with fewer adverse events compared with IS group for IDA treatment among obstetric and gynecologic patients. However, this meta-analysis was limited by the small number of RCTs and high heterogeneity. TRIAL REGISTRATION The review was prospectively registered with the International Prospective Registry of Systematic Reviews (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, registration number CRD42019148905).
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The definition, screening, and treatment of postpartum anemia: A systematic review of guidelines
Ruiz de Viñaspre-Hernández R, Gea-Caballero V, Juárez-Vela R, Iruzubieta-Barragán FJ
Birth (Berkeley, Calif.). 2020
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
BACKGROUND Postpartum anemia can negatively affect maternal health and interfere with early parenting. Thus, it is important to have clear, evidence-informed recommendations on its diagnosis and treatment. OBJECTIVE To compare global recommendations regarding the appropriate management of postpartum anemia and to highlight similarities and differences. METHODS Systematic searches were conducted in the databases PubMed, CINAHL, LILACS, TRIP database, and Scopus, and in the websites of health institutions and scientific societies. Search terms were related to anemia and the postpartum period. Two hundred and eighty papers were identified; the full texts of 30 sets of guidelines were reviewed, with seven being included in the final analysis. Recommendations were extracted through an evaluation of the evidence on the definition, screening, and diagnosis of anemia. The quality of the guidelines was assessed using the AGREE II instrument. RESULTS Two sets of guidelines have been elaborated by international organizations, and the rest were produced by professional associations within high-resource countries. The discrepancies found in the guidelines are important and affect the definition of anemia, the criteria for screening asymptomatic women, or the criteria guiding treatment. The quality of the guidelines commonly scored between 4 and 6 on a scale of 0 to 7. Recommendations with poor-quality evidence predominated over recommendations with high-quality evidence. CONCLUSIONS This review highlights the need to reach a consensus on the definition of postpartum anemia, to agree on what constitutes a problem for maternal health, and to provide recommendations that reach greater consensus on its diagnosis and treatment.
PICO Summary
Population
Women with postpartum anaemia.
Intervention
Systematic review comparing global recommendations regarding the appropriate management of postpartum anaemia, highlighting similarities and differences (7 guidelines).
Comparison
Outcome
Two sets of guidelines were elaborated by international organizations, the rest were produced by professional associations within high-resource countries. The discrepancies found in the guidelines were important and affected the definition of anaemia, the criteria for screening asymptomatic women, or the criteria guiding treatment. The quality of the guidelines commonly scored between 4 and 6 on a scale of 0 to 7. Recommendations with poor-quality evidence predominated over recommendations with high-quality evidence.
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Treatment of maternal anemia by using oral iron drugs combined with diet therapy
Wenting J, Junjuan C, Pingli L, Baoe J, He J, Xiuqin Z
Pakistan journal of pharmaceutical sciences. 2020;33(5(Special)):2417-2422
Abstract
Iron deficiency anemia is a common nutritional deficiency disease in women during pregnancy, mainly due to the increased iron requirements of pregnant women and fetuses, resulting in a lack of iron elements necessary for the production of red blood cells, resulting in a decrease in the number of red blood cells and the symptoms of anemia; Causes chronic fetal hypoxia and affects the normal development of some important organs of the fetus. This article explores the clinical value of oral iron drugs combined with diet therapy for maternal anemia. Observed the changes of hemoglobin (Hb), red blood cell count (RBC), average hemoglobin concentration (McHc), serum iron (SI), transferrin saturation (TS) and other indicators of pregnant women before and after treatment and the differences in pregnancy outcomes. Compared with before treatment, the maternal Hb, RBC, McHc, SI, TS and other indicators increased to a certain extent after treatment. Among them, the increase of each indicator in the experimental group is significantly larger than that in the control group. Differences between groups are considered to be meaningful after statistical analysis. (P<0.05). Oral iron drugs combined with diet therapy can effectively improve the symptoms of anemia and have a positive impact on pregnancy outcomes.
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Oral iron-based interventions for prevention of critical outcomes in pregnancy and postnatal care: An overview and update of systematic reviews
Abraha I, Bonacini MI, Montedori A, Di Renzo GC, Angelozzi P, Micheli M, Germani A, Carloni D, Scaccetti A, Palmieri G, et al
Journal of evidence-based medicine. 2019;12(2):155-166
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The aim of this work was to summarize and update the evidence concerning oral iron-based interventions compared to placebo or no iron-based interventions to prevent critical outcomes in pregnancy or treat critical outcomes in the postpartum phase. METHOD Published systematic reviews (Feb 2018) and primary studies (from 2015 to March 2018) retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were examined. The AMSTAR (Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews) tool was used to assess the quality of reviews. GRADE was used to rate the quality of the evidence for critical outcomes. RESULTS Antenatal care: Compared to placebo/no treatment, iron-based therapies reduced maternal anemia at term by 59% (seven trials at low risk of bias, RR 0.41, 95% CI 0.23-0.73; I(2) = 86%; moderate-quality evidence) and maternal iron deficiency anemia by 67% (RR 0.33, 95% CI 0.16-0.69; I(2) = 49%). There was no evidence of difference between iron-based therapies vs control in terms of side effects (RR 1.42, 95% CI 0.91-2.21), preterm delivery (13 studies: RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.84-1.03; low-quality evidence), low birthweight (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.79-1.13; low-quality evidence) and infant mortality (RR 0.93, 0.72-1.20; low-quality evidence). POSTNATAL CARE There was insufficient evidence to determine whether iron-based therapies can reduce postpartum anemia. CONCLUSION Iron supplementation is effective in preventing maternal anemia at term but not low birthweight, preterm delivery or infant mortality.
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Intravenous or oral iron for treating iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy: systematic review and meta-analysis
Qassim A, Grivell RM, Henry A, Kidson-Gerber G, Shand A, Grzeskowiak LE
The Medical journal of Australia. 2019
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To compare the effects on perinatal maternal and neonatal outcomes of intravenous and oral iron therapy as first-line treatment of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in pregnant women. STUDY DESIGN A meta-analysis, applying fixed and random effects models, of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the effects of intravenous and oral iron therapy for pregnant women with IDA. DATA SOURCES MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science; bibliographies of identified articles. DATA SYNTHESIS Fifteen eligible studies with a total of 1938 participants were identified. Each was at high risk of bias in at least one domain; ten were undertaken in low or middle income countries. Evidence (from nine RCTs) that intravenous iron was superior to oral iron in reducing the need for blood transfusion at delivery was low quality (Peto odds ratio, 0.19 [95% CI, 0.05-0.78]; number needed to treat, 95 [95% CI, 81-348]). Evidence that intravenous iron was superior to oral iron in increasing neonatal birthweight (eight RCTs: mean difference, 58 g; 95% CI, 4-112 g) or reducing the rate of breastfeeding cessation within 24 months of delivery (one RCT: hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.50-0.99) was of low or very low quality. While intravenous iron treatment was superior to oral iron for improving maternal haematological parameters at delivery, their effects on neonatal haematological parameters were similar. CONCLUSIONS There is no strong evidence that first-line therapy with intravenous iron is superior to oral administration for treating IDA in pregnant women. The few identified differences in outcomes were small in magnitude and from studies at high risk of bias. REGISTRATION International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), CRD42019120652.
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Parenteral Versus Oral Iron for Treatment of Iron Deficiency Anaemia During Pregnancy and post-partum: A Systematic Review
Radhika AG, Sharma AK, Perumal V, Sinha A, Sriganesh V, Kulshreshtha V, Kriplani A
Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology of India. 2019;69(1):13-24
Abstract
Introduction: The burden of iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy and post-partum continues to remain high especially in India. Challenges to treatment include gastrointestinal side effects and non compliance to oral iron therapy. Newer parenteral formulations need to be explored as alternatives. Methods: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials published between years 2011 and 2018 comparing anaemic pregnant and post-partum women treated with intravenous iron sucrose versus oral iron was performed. The primary outcomes were mean maternal haemoglobin, serum ferritin and haematocrit at the end of 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th weeks and comparison of adverse effects. Results: Eighteen studies including 1633 antenatal women were randomly assigned to intravenous iron sucrose (n = 821) or oral iron [ferrous sulphate, ferrous ascorbate or fumarate] group (n = 812) in ten trials . Another eight studies compared iron sucrose infusion with oral iron in 713 post-partum women who were randomly assigned to intravenous iron sucrose group (n = 351) or oral iron group (n = 362). Cumulative analysis of all the time points indicates that the estimated mean values of Hb in the intravenous iron sucrose and oral iron groups were 10.11 g/dl and 9.33 g/dl, respectively, in antenatal group, while it was 10.57 g/dl and 9.74 g/dl in post-partum. The estimated mean ferritin level from first week to six weeks was 63.1 mug/l and 28.6 mug/l, respectively, in intravenous and oral iron groups. Cumulative estimate of haematocrit in the intravenous sucrose and oral iron over 6 weeks showed that the mean values in the respective groups were 30.5% and 29.5% in antenatal and 33.8% and 31.6%, respectively, in post-partum groups. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the reliability and consistency of the results. Oral iron was associated with significant gastrointestinal side effects. There was no significant difference in birthweight between the groups. Conclusion: This meta-analysis demonstrates that intravenous iron sucrose is more effective than oral iron therapy for pregnant and post-partum women with iron deficiency anaemia. It is an effective and safe alternative to address the problem of iron deficiency especially in those who require rapid replacement of iron stores though medical personnel for intravenous administration of drug is required.Trial registration CRD42015024343.
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Intravenous compared with oral iron for the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Lewkowitz AK, Gupta A, Simon L, Sabol BA, Stoll C, Cooke E, Rampersad RA, Tuuli MG
Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association. 2019
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of intravenous versus oral iron on hematologic indices and clinical outcomes for iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) in pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN Searches in Ovid Medline, Embase, SCOPUS, Cochrane Database, and ClinicalTrials.gov identified randomized-controlled trials comparing intravenous to oral iron for treating IDA in pregnancy. Primary outcomes were maternal hematologic indices at delivery. Secondary outcomes were blood transfusion, cesarean delivery, neonatal outcomes, and medication reactions. RESULTS Of 15,637 studies, 20 randomized trials met inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Mean hemoglobin at delivery (9 studies: WMD 0.66 g/dL (95% confidence Interval 0.31 -1.02 g/dL)) was significantly higher after intravenous iron therapy. Intravenous iron was associated with higher birthweight (8 studies: WMD 58.25 g (95% CI: 5.57-110.94 g)) but no significant differences in blood transfusion, cesarean delivery, or neonatal hemoglobin. There were fewer medication reactions with intravenous iron (21 studies: RR 0.34% (95% CI: 0.20-0.57)). CONCLUSION Intravenous iron therapy is associated with higher maternal hemoglobin at delivery with no difference in blood transfusion and fewer mild medication reactions.