Trial reportEuropean journal of clinical nutrition2009
Should we lower the dose of iron when treating anaemia in pregnancy? A randomized dose-response trial.
Trial report in European journal of clinical nutrition, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 8 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
31 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The benefits and harms of oral iron supplementation in non-anaemic pregnant women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Family practice · 2025Pooled it
- Daily oral iron supplementation during pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Intermittent oral iron supplementation during pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Daily oral iron supplementation during pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Anaemia, prenatal iron use, and risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2013Pooled it
- Daily oral iron supplementation during pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Intermittent oral iron supplementation during pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Treatments for iron-deficiency anaemia in pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2011Pooled it
- Effect of combined probiotic and iron-folic acid supplementation on iron status and gut inflammation markers: a randomized controlled trial among anaemic children.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Trial
- Supplementation with Small-Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements Does Not Increase Child Morbidity in a Semiurban Setting in Ghana: A Secondary Outcome Noninferiority Analysis of the International Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (iLiNS)-DYAD Randomized Controlled Trial.The Journal of nutrition · 2020Trial
- Effects of lipid-based nutrient supplements or multiple micronutrient supplements compared with iron and folic acid supplements during pregnancy on maternal haemoglobin and iron status.Maternal & child nutrition · 2018Trial
- Impact of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement on hemoglobin, iron status and biomarkers of inflammation in pregnant Ghanaian women.Maternal & child nutrition · 2017Trial
- Providing lipid-based nutrient supplement during pregnancy does not reduce the risk of maternal P falciparum parasitaemia and reproductive tract infections: a randomised controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2017Trial
- Adapting iron dose supplementation in pregnancy for greater effectiveness on mother and child health: protocol of the ECLIPSES randomized clinical trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2014Trial
- Accuracy of erythrogram and serum ferritin for the maternal anemia diagnosis (AMA): a phase 3 diagnostic study on prediction of the therapeutic responsiveness to oral iron in pregnancy.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2013Trial
- Article
- A Food Pyramid and Nutritional Strategies for Managing Nausea and Vomiting During Pregnancy: A Systematic Review.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Iron Supply of Multivitamins-Multiminerals Commercialized Online by Amazon in Western and Southern Europe: A Labeling Analysis.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Ideal Dose of Iron in Multiple Micronutrient Supplement: A Narrative Review of Evidence.Cureus · 2022Review
- Multiple micronutrient supplements versus iron-folic acid supplements and maternal anemia outcomes: an iron dose analysis.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesTo compare the efficacy and side effects of low-dose vs high-dose iron supplements to correct anaemia in pregnancy. SUBJECTS/
methodsOne hundred and eighty women with anaemia (haemoglobin <110 g l(-1)) in mid-pregnancy. The women were randomly allocated to 20; 40 or 80 mg of iron daily for 8 weeks from mid-pregnancy.
resultsOne hundred and seventy-nine (99%) women completed the trial. At the end of treatment, there was a clear dose-response of increasing mean haemoglobin concentration with iron dose (111+/-13 g l(-1) at 20 mg per day, 114+/-11 g l(-1) at 40 mg per day and 119+/-12 g l(-1) at 80 mg per day, P=0.006). However, the incidence of anaemia did not differ statistically between groups. Compared with women in the 80 mg iron group, the odds ratio of anaemia was 1.9 (95% CI: 0.8, 4.3, P=0.130) and 1.1 (95% CI: 0.5, 2.6, P=0.827), respectively, for women in the 20 mg iron group and the 40 mg iron group. The incidence of gastrointestinal side effects was significantly lower for women in the 20 mg iron group compared with women in the 80 mg iron group; the odds ratio was 0.4 (95% CI: 0.2, 0.8, P=0.014) for nausea, 0.3 (95% CI: 0.2, 0.7, P=0.005) for stomach pain and 0.4 (95% CI: 0.2, 0.9, P=0.023) for vomiting.
conclusionsLow-dose iron supplements may be effective at treating anaemia in pregnancy with less gastrointestinal side effects compared with high-dose supplements.
Indexed as
Identifiers
17928802What 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.