Association of Iron Deficiency Anemia with Febrile Seizures in Children

Introduction: Febrile convulsions represent the predominant seizure manifestation among the pediatric population, with a range of conjectured predisposing factors encompassing iron deficiency anemia. The primary aim of this investigation was to ascertain the correlation between iron deficiency anemia and febrile seizures in children. Methodology: A retrospective case-control investigation was conducted at the Pediatric Medicine Department of Aziz Fatima Hospital in Faisalabad spanning a period of six months, from May 19th to November 18th, 2024. The study cohort comprised 130 children within the age bracket of 6 months to 5 years, evenly divided into two groups: 65 cases afflicted with febrile seizures and 65 controls diagnosed with febrile illness but devoid of seizure manifestations. The examination encompassed the determination of hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels in all subjects. Iron deficiency anemia was defined utilizing the criteria of hemoglobin levels equal to or below 11 gm/dl and serum ferritin levels at or below 12 microgram/dl. The statistical analysis of the collected data was performed utilizing the statistical software SPSS version 25.0, where the odds ratio was computed to evaluate the correlation, with a significance threshold set at a p-value of ≤0.05. Results: The average age of participants in the case group was 2.28 years with a standard deviation of 0.91, while in the control group it was 2.31 years with a standard deviation of 1.01. Iron deficiency anemia was identified in 28 individuals (43.08%) in the case group and in 15 individuals (23.08%) in the control group. The statistical analysis revealed a p-value of 0.017 and an odds ratio of 2.42, signifying a statistically significant correlation between iron deficiency anemia and the occurrence of febrile seizures in the studied population. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that iron deficiency anemia is significantly associated with febrile seizures in children. Screening for iron deficiency anemia in children presenting with febrile seizures may be beneficial for their clinical management.