High prevalence of microcytic anaemia in Omani children: a prospective study.

Iron deficiency is a common cause of microcytic anaemia. However, a high prevalence of haemoglobinopathies in the Arab population makes differential diagnosis difficult. This prospective study of anaemia in children attending a regional hospital in the Sultanate of Oman looked at the prevalence and causes of anaemia in 256 children, 153 in the age group 3-5 years (group A) and 103 in the age group 10-12 years (group B). Of the children studied, 45.1% in group A and 37.9% in group B were anaemic according to WHO criteria. All the anaemic children had low mean corpuscular haemoglobin and 75% showed microcytosis. Serum ferritin levels were normal and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency did not contribute to the anaemia. The microcytosis and microcytic anaemia in the study population could be attributed to the alpha-thalassaemia trait which is highly prevalent in Oman. The information is of value in any country where there is a significant prevalence of alpha-thalassaemia genes because these can confound the diagnosis of iron deficiency.