부산대학교 도서관

We studied the prevalence of low haematocrit values (defined as <38%) in 1,253 children from urban and rural areas of Guatemala, to examine any urban-rural or age-related trends. Though the crude prevalences of low haematocrit for all the children showed a significant difference between urban and rural residents, the significance disappeared when these values were adjusted for differences in the age profiles of the two groups. As expected, preschool children had significantly more low haematocrits (32.0%) than school-age children (6.0%) (p < .05). Ferritin levels were available for 35.9% of the preschool children (one urban and one rural location); of these, 51.8% had levels below 12 mg/l, indicating iron deficiency. These values were used to determine the predictive value of haematocrit compared with ferritin values, and the cut-off at which haematocrit reaches optimum sensitivity and specificity to diagnose iron depletion. A cut-off of 39% had a sensitivity of 61% and a specificity of 45% in urban preschoolers, and a cut-off of 38% had a sensitivity of 75% and specificity of 42% in rural preschoolers.