Iron deficiency anemia and glycated hemoglobin among adolescents: A case‑control study

Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a hemoglobin fraction used to diagnose diabetes mellitus and its related complications. Previous studies have shown inconsistent results regarding the association between HbA1c and iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Thus, the present study aimed to provide insight into this association. For this purpose, a school‑based case‑control study was conducted from September to December, 2022. The present study included both adolescents with IDA (the study population) and healthy adolescents without anemia (the control group). Hemoglobin, HbA1c and serum ferritin levels were measured using standard methods. A total of 47 cases (adolescents with IDA) and 94 controls (adolescents without IDA) were enrolled in the present study. The two groups exhibited no significant differences in age, body mass index (BMI), or blood glucose levels. In total, 27 of the cases (57.4%) and 48 of the controls (51.1%) were female (P=0.591). The median (interquartile range) of the HbA1c was 5.4% (5.3=5.7%) in the cases and 5.5% (5.1=5.8%) in the controls (P=0.890). In multivariate linear analysis, age, sex, BMI and iron deficiency (coefficient = 0.008; 95% CI, ‑0.16‑0.17; P=0.929) were not associated with HbA1c. On the whole, the present study found no difference in HbA1c in adolescents with and without IDA.