The Study
A Comparative Study Of Iron Deficiency Anemia And Thyroid Function Test In Pregnant Women
This study looked at a group of pregnant women and checked their blood to see if low iron and thyroid problems happened together. It found that sometimes they do, but it doesn't prove that one causes the other — they might just happen at the same time for other reasons.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at pregnant women to see if low iron (which causes anemia) makes thyroid problems worse.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 532 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even though low iron might sound like it should affect the thyroid, this study found no clear link—so iron supplements may not fix thyroid problems in pregnancy.
- 220% had mild thyroid issues, 17% had clear thyroid problems, 13% had overactive thyroid—but iron levels didn’t match up with thyroid hormone levels.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
African Journal of Biomedical Research
Year
2025
Authors
Dr. M.Aravindh Sagar, Dr. Sudha, D. Subramanian, Dr. V. Ramamoorthy
Related Content
Claims (5)
In pregnant women, the level of iron stored in the blood (ferritin) does not have a statistically significant relationship with the level of thyroid-stimulating hormone.
Findings from a study of pregnant women in one hospital in India may not apply to pregnant women in other regions due to differences in diet, genes, or healthcare systems.
The study claims to examine iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women in India but does not provide any numerical data on how common it is, making it impossible to determine if it is related to thyroid dysfunction.
In clinical settings in India, 20% of pregnant women have subclinical hypothyroidism, 16.7% have overt hypothyroidism, and 13.3% have subclinical hyperthyroidism, showing that thyroid dysfunction is common during pregnancy.
Pregnant women with iron deficiency anemia have the same levels of anti-TPO antibodies as pregnant women without iron deficiency anemia.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.