Introduction:

Among the factors that can increase the risk of febrile crisis is iron deficiency anemia, although there are studies with contradictory results.

Objective:

Determine the role of iron deficiency anemia as a risk factor for the first simple febrile crisis.

Methods:

Prospective case-control study, conducted from January to December 2019, at the Huacho-Lima Regional Hospital, Peru, in 102 children aged 6 to 60 months. Patients were divided into 2 groups: the group of cases with simple febrile crisis and the control group with fever without crisis. Iron deficiency anemia was defined with hematological indicators such as hemoglobin < 11 g/dl, mean corpuscular volume < 70 fl and erythrocyte distribution width > 15%. The definition of febrile crisis was according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Results:

68.6% of iron deficiency anemia was found in the case group against 37.3% in the control group (p= 0.0029). Hemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume had lower mean values in cases compared to the control group (p= 0.002). The erythrocyte distribution width was higher in cases compared to the control group (p= 0.006). The crude odds ratio between iron deficiency anemia and the first febrile crisis was 3.684 (95%CI: 1.622-8.363; p= 0.002) and OR adjusted by simple binary logistic regression of 1.699 (95%CI: 1.191-2.423; p= 0.003).

Conclusions:

Iron deficiency´s anemia is a risk factor for the first simple febrile crisis.

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