Background: Anemia is highly prevalent in India and it is one of the major health problems among
the children belonging to the tea garden community of Assam.
Aim: To study the prevalence of anaemia among the children belonging to the tea garden community
of Assam.
Methods: Collected samples were tested for complete blood count by automated blood analyzer,
serum ferritin by IMMULITE® 1000 immunoassay system, serum iron and TIBC concentration by
Dimension
® RxL Max®
Integrated Chemistry System and haemoglobin variants by High-performance
liquid chromatography. Transferrin saturation percentage (%) was calculated by dividing the serum
iron level by TIBC and multiplied by 100. Generated data were analyzed by analysis of variance
(ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 21.
Results: The overall prevalence of anaemia among the children belonging to the tea garden
community of Assam was. Study showed HB disorders were the most important non nutritional factor
for causing anaemia in the study population. The study also showed that MCV level and serum ferritin
level were important indicators of anaemia. A statistically significant difference of mean haemoglobin
level (F= 17.782; P<0.0001) was observed in different types of haemoglobin variants among the study
population.
Conclusion: For this kind of populations cause of anaemia was not only because of iron deficiency
and so other recommended tests should be performed before treatment.