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Iron Deficiency and Depression in Female State Fair Attendees
Author(s) -
Price Kathleen L,
Abernathy Breann E,
Dobbs Joannie C,
Gallaher Daniel D
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.298.6
Subject(s) - medicine , hematocrit , depression (economics) , iron deficiency , ferritin , hemoglobin , anemia , iron deficiency anemia , physiology , serum iron , economics , macroeconomics
Iron deficiency persists as the most prevalent nutrient deficiency on the planet, and women of menstruating age are at high risk due to menstrual blood loss. Recent data suggests that iron deficiency in the absence of anemia can impact quality of life, and currently the prevalence of menstruating females with inadequate ferritin values in the US is high. One important quality of life factor that has been linked to iron deficiency is depression. Although an association between iron deficiency and depression has been supported by some observational studies, the findings are inconsistent. Thus, the objective of this study was to further examine the relationship between iron status and depression. This cross‐sectional study gathered survey data and blood samples from 190 pre‐menopausal female subjects at the Minnesota State Fair in August of 2015. Whole blood hemoglobin, hematocrit, serum ferritin and serum TIBC were determined and correlated to survey data detailing reported iron deficiency symptoms and their severity, including the PHQ9, a validated depression screen. 15% of subjects were anemic as defined by a hematocrit value under 38% or a hemoglobin value below 12 g/dL. Additionally, 73% had low ferritin status as defined by a value less than 20 mg/L. Overall, 18% of subjects reported moderate to severe depression as defined by the PHQ9. Although independent relationships between anemia, low ferritin values, or elevated TIBC values and depression were not seen, of the anemic subjects who also reported fatigue, 55% were moderately to severely depressed compared to 16% of anemic patients who did not report fatigue (p = 0.0065). Additionally, of the subjects with iron‐deficient values for both ferritin and TIBC who also reported fatigue, 47% were moderately to severely depressed compared to the 23% of subjects with iron‐deficient ferritin and TIBC values who did not report fatigue (p = 0.0084). Low iron status with reported fatigue, which we term functional iron deficiency, appears to be strongly associated with depression. Our results also suggest that biochemical indicators of iron status alone are inadequate to examine the relationship between iron status and depression, and that symptomatic indicators of iron deficiency should also be included. Support or Funding Information Supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) of the University of Minnesota