Comparison of the effect of ferrous sulfate and ferrous gluconate on prophylaxis of iron deficiency in toddlers 6-24 months old: A randomized clinical trial

Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is one of the most common anemias, especially in children 4-23 months. Therefore, prophylaxis is necessary to improve iron status as well as reduce IDA in Toddlers. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of daily supplementation with ferrous gluconate (FG) and ferrous sulfate (FS) on iron status in toddlers.

Materials and methods: A total of 120 healthy toddlers were divided randomly into 2 groups at the Amir-Kabir Hospital, Arak, Iran and received FS and FG from March 2020 to December 2020. Iron status was evaluated at baseline and after 6 months of supplementation. The statistical significance of the differences in iron status between FS and FG groups was calculated using Student's t-test and the Pearson' s Chi-square test for qualitative variables. SPSS software (version 16, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for statistical analysis.

Results: Comparison of iron status of FS and FG groups toddlers at baseline and after 6 months of supplementation showed that there was a significant difference in hemoglobin (Hb) (10.46 vs. 12.45, P = 0.001) and ferritin level (28.08 vs. 59.63, P = 0.001).

Conclusions: Although prophylaxis with FG led to a higher Hb and ferritin levels, our study recommended that both FG and FS supplements were effective for prophylactic use in the prevention of IDA. However, FG was more effective than FS because FG group that received FG supplementation indicated a higher Hb and ferritin levels in comparison to the FS group that received FS supplementation.