ArticleEuropean journal of clinical nutrition2005
High prevalence of folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiencies in infants, children, adolescents and pregnant women in Venezuela.
Article in European journal of clinical nutrition, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 122 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global prevalences of erythropoiesis-associated micronutrient deficiencies (iron, folate, and vitamin BAnnals of medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Nutritional status in pregnant adolescents: a systematic review of biochemical markers.Maternal & child nutrition · 2007Pooled it
- Vitamin B-12 supplementation during pregnancy and early lactation increases maternal, breast milk, and infant measures of vitamin B-12 status.The Journal of nutrition · 2014Trial
- Multiple micronutrient supplementation improves vitamin B₁₂ and folate concentrations of HIV infected children in Uganda: a randomized controlled trial.Nutrition journal · 2011Trial
- The protocols for the 10/66 dementia research group population-based research programme.BMC public health · 2007Trial
- Article
- Unraveling folate deficiency: prevalence, biochemical associations, genetic determinants, and strategies for adolescent health in North India.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Fluorescent CdTe/ZnS Core/Shell Quantum Dots for Sensitive Metabolite Detection in Real Samples.Journal of fluorescence · 2025Article
- Prevalence of Vitamin BNutrients · 2023Article
- Prevalence and Risk Factors of Vitamin BNutrients · 2022Article
- Micronutrient Deficiencies and Anemia in Urban India-Do We Need Food Fortification?Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB · 2022Article
- Melatonin as a Reducer of Neuro- and Vasculotoxic Oxidative Stress Induced by Homocysteine.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Evaluation of macular, retinal nerve fiber layer and choroidal thickness by optical coherence tomography in children and adolescents with vitamin BInternational ophthalmology · 2021Observational
- Article
- Vitamin BNutrients · 2019Article
- Thrombotic microangiopathy and breastfeeding: where is the link? Answers.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2018Article
- Should vitamin BAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2018Review
- Article
- Genetic and environmental factors associated with vitamin B12 status in Amazonian children.Public health nutrition · 2015Article
- Vitamin B12 serostatus in Colombian children and adult women: results from a nationally representative survey.Public health nutrition · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is increased worldwide concern about the consequences of folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiencies on health, which include megaloblastic anemia, neural tube defects and cardiovascular disease.
objectiveThis study intended to determine the prevalence of folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiencies in vulnerable groups in labor and poor socioeconomic strata of the Venezuelan population.
methodsA total of 5658 serum samples were processed to determine folic acid and vitamin B12 concentrations. The study involved three surveys performed during 2001-2002 and included infants, children, adolescents and pregnant women from labor and poor socioeconomic strata of the population. The method used was a radio immunoassay designed for the simultaneous measurement of serum folic acid and vitamin B12.
resultsThe prevalence of folic acid deficiency was higher than 30% for all groups studied, reaching 81.79% in adolescents. Vitamin B12 deficiency was 11.4% in samples collected nationwide, but there was also a similar prevalence of high serum levels. The prevalence of folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiencies in pregnant women reached 36.32 and 61.34%, respectively.
conclusionThis work shows that there is a high prevalence of folic acid deficiency, especially in women of reproductive age, pregnant adolescents and in the whole population studied in Vargas state. This situation requires immediate intervention as supplementation or food fortification programs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.