Intermittent iron supplementation in women can reduce anaemia and has less side effects than daily supplementation

Cochrane review: Fernández-Gaxiola AC, De-Regil LM. Intermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult menstruating women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2019, Issue 1. Art. No. CD009218. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD009218.pub3

Background: Anaemia is a common problem in women of reproductive age and is estimated to affect ~7% of women in countries with high incomes and up to 40% in women in low to middle income countries depending on the levels of malaria, HIV and availability of clean drinking water and sanitation.¹ Iron and folic acid supplementation is the recommended therapy for treating anaemia.² However, patients tend to be non-compliant with this therapy due to the side effects experienced by taking iron supplementation.³

Clinical Bottom Line: This Cochrane review showed that women who were prescribed iron supplementation for three or less non-consecutive days per week had equivalent haemoglobin levels and numbers of women continuing to be affected by anaemia as women who were prescribed daily administration of iron supplements.⁴ However, women with intermittent supplementation were less likely to suffer from side effects such as constipation and gastrointestinal discomfort than those on daily supplementation.⁴