Iron Nutriture and Related Dietary Factors in Apparently Healthy Young Korean Women(1) : Comparison and Evaluation of Blood Bichemical Indices for Assessment of Iron Nutritional Status

우리나라 젊은 성인 여성의 철분영양상태와 이에 영향을 미치는 식이요인 분석(1) : 혈액의 철분 영양 상태 평가 지표의 비교 및 분석

To evaluate iron nutritional status and to compare biochemical indices used for evaluation of iron nutriture, fasting blood sample was taken from 96 Korean female college student and hemoglobin(Hb) concentration, hematocrit(Hct), serum iron, total iron binding capacity(TIBC) and serum ferritin concentration were measured and transferrin(TF) saturation was calculated. Prevalence of iron deficiency varied from 4.2% when judged from Hb concentration and Hct to 38.5% and 40.6% when TIBC and serum ferritin concentration were used. TIBC was negatively correlated with serum ferritin(r=0.4561, p<0.001), while other indices showed positive but less significant correlations(p<0.05). Regarding iron status judged by serum ferritin was regarded as true iron status, the present cutoff points of Hb, Hct, serum iron, TF saturation were very insensitive in identifying the subjects with iron deficiency. Only TIBC was suitable for detecting iron deficiency in the study subjects. It is concluded from the study results that iron deficiency in young Korean adult women would be significantly underestimated with presently used biochemical measurements except TIBC and new cutoff points of these indices were proposed based on sensitivity, specificity measured prevalence, and positive and negative predictive values.