Study To Compare And Correlate The Effect On Iron Deficiency Anaemia On Cognition In Young Adult Females

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in young Indian women especially the urban population is on a rise since a past few years due to various factors including inclination towards processed food. Anaemia, particularly iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), is a prevalent public health issue in India, affecting a significant portion of the population, including children, adolescents and women. Recent data from 2024 indicates that anaemia continues to be a challenge, with substantial implications for cognitive function among adolescents. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been observed in individuals with anaemia, suggesting a potential link between iron status and cognitive performance.

Methods: The study was an analytical correlational study conducted at the Central Neuro-Physiology Lab, Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital (AVBRH) in Wardha, focusing on adult females of reproductive age, ranging between 18 and 30 years old. The total sample size for this study was determined to be 260, with 130 women diagnosed with Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) and 130 non-anaemic healthy women. Purposive sampling techniques were utilized for participant selection. Hematological evaluation was conducted through Complete Blood Count and serum ferritin analysis. Cognitive assessment was performed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The Student’s t-test and Pearson’s correlation were used to examine the association between haemoglobin, serum ferritin levels and cognition.

Results: The findings suggest that there was no statistically significant difference in age, weight, height, and BMI between females with iron deficiency anaemia and healthy females (p>0.05). However, hemoglobin and serum ferritin concentrations were notably lower in anaemic females compared to healthy females (p < 0.001). Additionally, the total MoCA score was significantly lower in anaemic females compared to healthy females (p<0.001). MoCA score showed significant positive correlation with haemoglobin (r 0.667, p <0.001) and ferritin levels (r 0.652, p < 0.001) indicating that cognitive function diminishes with severity of anaemia. Specifically, individuals with moderate anaemia exhibited the lowest MoCA score of 22.94±2.479, while those with no anaemia displayed the highest MoCA score of 26.48±2.175. This disparity was found to be statistically significant (p<0.001). The linear regression model indicated that a unit decrease in ferritin decreases the MoCA score by 0.145 (95%CI; 0.124-0.166), and a unit decrease in the hemoglobin decreases the MoCA score by 1.182 (95%CI; 1.020-1.344), which was statistically significant.

Conclusions: In this study, it was found that anaemic women had significantly lower cognitive scores compared to the healthy non-anaemic group. High levels of hemoglobin and ferritin showed a moderate positive correlation with higher cognitive performance. These findings suggest that cognitive function in young females is moderately influenced by IDA, highlighting that IDA is one of the potential risk factor for cognitive impairment.