Ferrous Sulfate Supplementation Causes Significant Gastrointestinal Side-Effects in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Zoe Tolkien, Lynne Stecher, Adrian Mander (), Dora I A Pereira and Jonathan J Powell

PLOS ONE, 2015, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: Background: The tolerability of oral iron supplementation for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia is disputed. Objective: Our aim was to quantify the odds of GI side-effects in adults related to current gold standard oral iron therapy, namely ferrous sulfate. Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating GI side-effects that included ferrous sulfate and a comparator that was either placebo or intravenous (IV) iron. Random effects meta-analysis modelling was undertaken and study heterogeneity was summarised using I2 statistics. Results: Forty three trials comprising 6831 adult participants were included. Twenty trials (n = 3168) had a placebo arm and twenty three trials (n = 3663) had an active comparator arm of IV iron. Ferrous sulfate supplementation significantly increased risk of GI side-effects versus placebo with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.32 [95% CI 1.74–3.08, p

Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0117383

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117383

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