Background: Infants with iron deficiency anaemia score significantly lower on tests of infant development.

Objective: To determine whether oral iron for 14 weeks improves performance on the Developmental Assessment Scales for Indian Infants (DASII) in children with iron deficiency anaemia.

Study design: Prospective observational. Participants: Twenty six children 6-24 months old with iron deficiency anaemia and an equal number of non-anaemic children. Intervention: The anaemic group received oral iron daily while the non-anaemic group was given folic acid for 14 weeks. Outcomes: Improvement in motor and mental Development Quotient (DQ) on DASII and haematological and iron status following oral iron therapy for 14 weeks.

Results: Anaemia was corrected in 22 anaemic children while 11 non-anaemic children became anaemic after 14 weeks. The baseline motor and mental scores on DASII were comparable in the anaemic and non-anaemic children. The motor scores improved significantly following iron therapy in the anaemic group (p = 0.01). Mean DQ for mental cluster VII corresponding to language (vocabulary and comprehension) was significantly lower in the anaemic group compared to the non-anaemic group (p = 0.026) at the baseline. Following iron therapy, DQ for mental cluster VII and X (manual dexterity) improved significantly as compared to the baseline in the anaemic group.

Conclusion: Motor development scores on DASII as also DQ for mental clusters VII and X improved significantly in anaemic children following oral iron therapy. 

To be updated.