A study on association of indicators of iron deficiency with febrile seizure in children admitted in pediatric emergency ward

Objectives: Febrile Seizure is the most common form of seizure in childhood. There are conflicting evidence regarding the association between iron deficiency and febrile seizure. Hence, this study was undertaken to find out the association between different indicators of iron deficiency with febrile seizure in children admitted in the Pediatric Emergency Ward of Burdwan Medical College, Burdwan. Methodology: A total of 159 children were selected by the complete enumeration method. Parameters of iron deficiency were estimated in them and age, sex-matched controls. Mann–Whitney U test and Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient were used to find out the association between indicators of iron deficiency with febrile seizure. The binary logistic regression method was used to find out the adjusted odds ratio. P < 0.01 was considered statistically significant. Results: About 53.5% of the study population (mean age: 3.01 ± 1.37 years) was male. Mean hemoglobin, serum iron, serum ferritin, mean corpuscular volume, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration were significantly higher in the control group, while the reverse is true for serum total iron-binding capacity. Serum ferritin became the most significant parameter, responsible for 57.3%–76.4% variability of febrile seizure. Overall, our model correctly predicted 50% variance of the dependent/outcome variable. Conclusion: Iron deficiency is more common among children with febrile seizure. Hence, iron prophylaxis may be given to children with febrile seizure. Further research (preferable multi-centric) should be conducted.