Differences Serum Iron Levels in Pre-Menstrual and Post-Menstrual Women Who Consume Iron Tablets

Abstract

Iron deficiency anemia is a condition of insufficient nutrients needed to produce and statize erythrocytes. Adolescent girls are prone to iron deficiency anemia, one of the factors that affects menstruation. During menstruation, iron in the body will dissolve with menstrual blood so that it will affect iron levels. Iron deficiency anemia can be prevented by the consumption of iron tablets, but adolescent girls lack awareness for the consumption of iron tablets. This study aims to determine the difference serum iron levels  in pre-menstrual and post-menstrual women consume iron tablets. This type of research  is pre-experimental designs with simple random sampling techniques. The method used is colorimetry-ferozine. The sample of this study is a 3rd semester D-IV Health Analyst student at Nahdlatul Ulama University Surabaya which totals 31 respondents. The average serum iron level  in pre-menstrual women was 74 μg/dL and post-menstrual women 71 μg/dL. Data were analyzed using the Paired t-test and obtained a p-value of 0.623 (p>0.05). The conclusion was that there was no significant difference in serum iron levels of  pre-menstrual and post-menstrual women who consumed iron tablets. It is recommended that the next researcher use a sample of women with iron deficiency anemia. In addition, the researcher was further advised to measure serum iron levels  in post-menstrual women did not consume iron tablets.