True or False poll no. 55
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH)
In treating anemia, oral preparations of iron complex supplements are more effective than those of other iron supplements.
FALSE
A CADTH review of the clinical evidence found that, overall, complex and traditional iron supplements taken orally had comparable effectiveness for treating iron-deficiency anemia in women during pregnancy, patients with chronic kidney disease and children.
Polysaccharide–iron complex products and heme iron polypeptide products are offered as alternative treatments to patients who do not respond well to traditional treatment with iron salts taken orally because of inadequate iron absorption or poor tolerance. However, they are more expensive.
Limited evidence was identified in one systematic review, two randomized controlled trials and one clinical guideline.
For treatment of iron-deficiency anemia during pregnancy, oral preparations of ferrous sulfate (iron salt) and iron polymaltose complex were comparable for improving hemoglobin levels. No serious adverse events occurred with use of either product; however, the frequency of adverse events was lower with iron polymaltose complex. The guideline did not discuss which iron formulations should be used during pregnancy.
In patients with chronic kidney disease, oral preparations of ferrous sulfate and heme iron polypeptide had similar effectiveness for the improvement of hemoglobin levels and transferrin saturation. Ferrous sulfate taken orally was also found to be similarly effective to iron polymaltose complex or iron–zinc combination preparations taken orally for improving hemoglobin levels in children (6 months to 15 years of age).
No evidence was found that compared oral preparations of iron complex products to those of iron salts in adult patients with iron-deficiency anemia who were not pregnant or did not have chronic kidney disease.
Read more about CADTH's review of oral preparations of iron for anemia at https://www.cadth.ca/oral-iron-anemia-review-clinical-effectiveness-cost-effectiveness-and-guidelines-0