Anthropometric Markers With Specific Cut-Offs Can Predict Anemia Occurrence Among Malaysian Young Adults.

Sulagna Dutta,Ivan Rolland Karkada,Pallav Sengupta,Suresh V Chinni

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.731416

Sulagna Dutta, Ivan Rolland Karkada + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.731416

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Abstract

Objective: Anemia bears a high global prevalence with about 1.6 billion people living with this affliction. Malaysia carries the burden of 13.8% anemia prevalence which urges for extensive research directed to its prediction and amelioration. This is the first study that aims to (a) propose simple non-invasive predictive anthropometric markers and their specific cut-off values for early prediction of anemia among the young adults in Malaysia, (b) provide anemia prevalence based on both gender and ethnicity among young adults of Malaysia.Method: The present cross-sectional study included 245 participants (113 men and 132 women) aged between 18 and 30 years. Anthropometric parameters were measured following the standard protocols. Blood samples were collected and hemoglobin levels were determined using the HemoCue haemoglobinometer (Hb 201+ System, Angelhom, Sweden) to detect the presence of anemia. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was employed to assess and compare the efficacy of anthropometric indices in the prediction of anemia. Data were analyzed using SPSS (v. 22.0, IBM, Chicago, IL, USA) and MedCalc (v. 19.05, Ostend, Belgium).Result: The ROC analysis indicates that body mass index (BMI) is the best anthropometric marker with the highest area under the curve (AUC) and specificity (SP) for predicting the presence of anemia in young adults in Malaysia. Thus, the study proposes the optimal cut-off value of BMI for young men of Malaysia as 20.65 kg/m2 (AUC: 0.889) and young women of Malaysia as 19.7 kg/m2 (AUC: 0.904). The study also reports that Malaysian Indians have the highest prevalence of anemia (26.22%) followed by Malays (21.54%), “Others” (indigenous ethnic group) (20%), and Chinese (14.5%), with an overall higher prevalence of anemia in young adult women (21.96%) than in men (18.6%) of Malaysia.Conclusion: The proposed anemia-predictive anthropometric markers with optimal cut-off values will aid early detection of anemia among young adults in Malaysia, and given its simple, inexpensive, and intelligible approach, it can be widely used. The ease of anemia prediction together with the reported distribution of anemia prevalence based on gender and ethnicity will facilitate in gauging the necessary extent of strategies of anemia management in the young adult population of Malaysia.

Highlights

Anemia afflicts one-fourth of the global population (WHO, 2011), and Malaysia holds the burden of 13.8% anemia prevalence with 20.1% women and 4.9% men population being anemic (Abdullah et al, 2020)
As anemia is a common blood disorder affecting the mass population, a multiethnic nation, such as Malaysia, must direct its research to understand the pattern of anemia prevalence based on ethnicity to develop effective management strategies
Studies on the middle-aged and older population of Malaysia have reported that anemia is most prevalent in Indians, followed by Malays, and Chinese (Yusof et al, 2018; Abdullah et al, 2020)

Summary

Introduction

Anemia afflicts one-fourth of the global population (WHO, 2011), and Malaysia holds the burden of 13.8% anemia prevalence with 20.1% women and 4.9% men population being anemic (Abdullah et al, 2020). Reports pertaining to prevalence of anemia based on the ethnicity are scanty, but some of the studies revealed significant variations of occurrence of anemia among various ethnic groups (FrithTerhune et al, 2000; Guralnik et al, 2004; Gaskell et al, 2008; Yusof et al, 2018). This can be explained by the differences in lifestyles, customs, and beliefs among the ethnicities which influence their dietary choices (Gaskell et al, 2008; Hiza et al, 2013; Nohan et al, 2020)

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