摘要：We investigated the prevalence and risk factors of anemia and iron deficiency in 398 rural Amazonians aged 5–90 years in Acre, Brazil. Anemia and iron deficiency were diagnosed in 16% and 19% of the population, respectively. Anemia was likely to have multiple causes; although nearly half of anemic school children and women had altered iron status indicators, only 19.7% of overall anemia was attributable to iron deficiency. Geo-helminth infection and a recent malaria episode were additional factors affecting iron status indicators in this population. Because global estimates for iron deficiency prevalence are not available, anemia, which affects 30% of the world population, 1 has been used as an indicator of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia. Hemoglobin determination, however, is neither sensitive nor specific as a screening test for iron deficiency. The former occurs because a large proportion of total body iron must be lost before hemoglobin levels fall below the laboratory definition of anemia. 2 The low specificity stems from other causes of anemia, such as other nutritional deficiencies, infections, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, and hemoglobinopathies. 3 – 6
