Ferritin Level in Pre and Postmenopausal Women Attending Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital Sokoto

Healthy individuals possess 3-4g of iron in his/her iron store, mostly in haemoglobin (oxygen-carrying pigment of blood) which is the most essential requirement of blood. Ferritin is a ubiquitous intracellular protein that stores iron and releases it in a controlled fashion. Serum ferritin is an indirect marker of the total amount of iron stored in the body and hence is used as a diagnostic marker for iron deficiency anaemia. This study was carried out to determine the level of serum ferritin in pre-and postmenopausal women attending Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital Sokoto. The study was conducted among one hundred and fifty women (75 premenopausal and 75 postmenopausal) with mean age 43.99±19.22. The age range for premenopausal and postmenopausal women was 18-49 and 50-87 years respectively. The serum ferritin levels were compared among the premenopausal and postmenopausal subjects. The serum ferritin was significantly higher among postmenopausal women 47.38 ± 43.00 compared to premenopausal women 21.96 ± 20.15 (p=0.01). The prevalence of anaemia based on serum ferritin level was higher among premenopausal women (8.7%) compared to postmenopausal women (2.7%). Low ferritin level <3.5ng/ml was higher among Hausa /Fulani (6.02%) compared to other ethnic groups. The difference however was not statistically significant (p=0.91). Low ferritin level was higher among premenopausal women in the 25-34 years age group compared to other age groups. This study has shown that anaemia based on serum ferritin level of <3.5ng/ml was significantly higher among premenopausal compared to postmenopausal women. Ferritin level <3.5ng/ml was higher among Hausa /Fulani (6.02%) and among premenopausal women in the 25-34 years age group. Serum ferritin should be used for the diagnosis and monitoring of iron deficiency anaemia in pre-and postmenopausal women. Ferritin level of <3.5ng/ml should be used as cutoff for the diagnosis of depleted iron store.