Dr Lesley Graff and colleagues from Canada explored whether iron deficiency in the absence of anemia is associated with fatigue in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The researchers assessed iron deficiency and anemia in 280 participants from the population-based Manitoba IBD Cohort Study.
Iron deficiency was identified in 20% with Crohn’s disease, and 27% with ulcerative colitis.
|Iron deficiency was identified in 20% with Crohn’s disease|
|American Journal of Gastroenterology|
The research team identified anemia overall in 18%, with 230 who were nonanemic.
In the nonanemic subgroup, there were no significant differences between iron-deficient and -sufficient groups in mean fatigue levels or proportions with problematic fatigue.
The research team observed no unique contribution of iron deficiency to problematic fatigue after adjustment for active disease and anemia.
Dr Graff's team concluded, "There was no evidence of an association between iron deficiency and fatigue in the absence of anemia, suggesting that iron deficiency is not a clinically relevant contributor to fatigue in IBD."