The results of the study released Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association
Henry Bernstein, DO, Associate Chief, General Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Boston and the principal investigator of the study says, "Our findings are important because, while iron deficiency can be readily treated, practitioners haven't had a simple, reliable and practical screening test to detect it early enough. Now they might."
He adds, "This study shows that CHr can be used to detect iron deficiency earlier and more accurately than standard hemoglobin screening. Once confirmed in larger, multicenter studies, these findings could change our preferred screening practices for the early detection of iron deficiency."
Under current guidelines, children are first screened with the hemoglobin test at nine to 12 months of age. However, iron deficiency can exist for some time before causing anemia.
