الفهرس 
? Iron Deficiency AnemiaOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Background: The two most frequently encountered microcytic hypochromic anemias are iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and β-thalassemia trait (β-TT) which need relatively expensive laboratory tests to be differentiated.
Objectives: This study aims at evaluating the diagnostic utility of different discrimination formulas derived from red blood cell indices from complete blood count in the differentiation of β-TT from IDA.
Patients and Methods: This study was conducted on 140 subjects recruited from outpatient clinics of Ain Shams University Hospitals. They were 45 males and 95 females (M:F 1:2.1), their ages ranged from 19 to 63 years.
Results: Zaghloul 2 index showed the best AUC (0.874) with specificity (97.5%) and sensitivity (76.7%) at cut off 66.61. This was followed by MCHD with AUC (0.603) with specificity (72.5%) and sensitivity (61.7%) then followed by MCI with AUC (0.564) with specificity (57.7%) and sensitivity (85.0%) then followed by E&F with AUC (0.551) with specificity (50.0%) and sensitivity (80.0%) then followed by MDHL with AUC (0.546) with specificity (50.0%) and sensitivity (86.7%) then followed by Zaghloul 1 with AUC (0.534) with specificity (62.5%) and sensitivity (58.3%).
Conclusion: Some discrimination formulas showed some significance. However, even if some of the formulas have high significance or efficacy, none of them proved to be confirmatory. They can be used for screening in big population and then followed by the usual confirmatory tests. Their real use comes in rural areas and primary care facilities were only red blood cell indices are handy. They can be calculated and the cases can be referred to secondary health care to take the confirmatory tests for diagnosis.