To assess the effectiveness of IFA-DOT (Iron Folic acid –Directly Observed Therapy) on prevalence of anaemia in adolescent school going girls in Shimla District

INTRODUCTION:  India is home to about 20 per cent of the world's adolescent population. The prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girls is nearly 90%. Such high prevalence justifies the urgency of the implementation of interventions among anaemic adolescent girls

METHODS:  The study was carried out in Shimla district of a hilly state of North India from March 2011 to Oct 2012. A baseline survey was done among 1596 adolescent girls in 9 schools of Shimla district. The screened anaemic students (n=331) were then were randomly allocated to either of the three intervention groups. School teachers administered iron folic acid tablets. The biweekly group, once weekly and daily regimen group had 112, 108 and 111 study participants respectively. The haemoglobin and serum ferritin concentration was measured at baseline and at the end of the intervention period.  Data collected was analysed using the Epi Info software (version 6.04). Two tailed t-test was used for comparing the means.

RESULTS: The intermittent and daily iron folic acid supplementation resulted in a significant increase in haemoglobin concentration and reduction of the prevalence of anaemia.  Intermittent IFA regimes were comparable to daily regimen as regards impact on Hb and serum ferritin. Compliance to iron tablets was more in intermittent regimen as compared to daily regimen group

CONCLUSIONS:

Administration of IFA at intermittent intervals is potential alternatives to daily dosing for the treatment of mild and moderate anaemia among adolescent girls. Considering the benefits of intermittent regimes it is recommended that state government takes its up as an option to decrease the prevalence of adolescent anemia in the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh.