DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2014.v02i06.114

Pages: 3412-3415

The Objective of present study is to evaluate the efficacy of Red Cell Distribution Width as a screening test for diagnosing children with Iron Deficiency anaemia. Prospective study method and Statistical methods were used. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) were studied. Out of 97 patients, Females were 32 ( 38 % ), Males 65 (62 % ).Maximum number of patients were in the age group of 1 – 6 years 39 ( 40.2 % ). Out of 97 cases, 67 (68%) were found to have iron deficiency anaemia and 31 (32% ) were non iron deficient anaemia. In this study, severe anaemia was found in 3 cases ( 3.1%), moderate anaemia in 26 cases (26.5%) and mild anaemia in 68 cases (70.4%). The mean standard deviation for RDW in iron deficient cases was 13.68±2.88. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive and negative predictive value were obtained using Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curves with a cut off RDW of 14 and 13.With cut off 14, sensitivity was 47%,, specificity 75 %, positive predictive 60%, and negative predictive value 63%, False positive 25% and false negative 53%. With cut off 13, sensitivity was 64%,, specificity 58 %,, positive predictive 56%, and negative predictive value 67%, False positive 42% and false negative 36%. RDW may not be useful as a screening test and other studies evaluating iron stores in the body like serum iron, serum ferritin, iron binding capacity and serum transferrin saturation may still be needed for appropriate diagnosis of iron deficiency anaemia.