Screening for Iron Deficiency Anemia in Children Living at South Sinai, Egypt

The objectives of this study are to assess prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in South Sinai children, in Egypt and to evaluate reliability of pin prick testing in anemia screening. A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted for children attending schools and nurseries living in 6 districts in South Sinai through multistage random sampling. 1,828 children of both genders were selected. Pin prick screening showed that 37.7% of children had mild to moderate degrees of anemia. There was significant difference among examined districts (p<0.0001). Anemia was less prevalent among children aging 10-<15 years, in children with history of parental consanguinity and in children with Bedouin origin (p<0.01). Gender had no effect on anemia rates. Severe anemia was present only in 3 children. Complete blood count test matched pin prick results and showed that 61.5% of anemic children had microcytic hypochromic red blood cells (RBCs). Median serum ferritin was below normal (12.5?g/dl) and depleted iron stores were present in 53% of examined children. Depletion was more in females (p<0.05). Iron deficiency anemia is a health problem among South Sinai children. Screening program is needed. Pin prick hemoglobin testing is simple, cheap and reliable.