A New Formula Based on Simple Blood Indices to Differentiate Beta Thalassemia Trait from Iron Deficiency Anemia

Background: Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder with a defect in the sufficient production of a protein called hemoglobin. We aimed to investigate the simple blood indices of patients with Beta Thalassemia Trait (BTT) and Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) to propose a new formula using logistic regression for differentiate two characteristics from each other. Methods: Among the 702 records of the BTT Counseling Center (Khoy, Iran-2022), 292 cases (219 iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and 73 BTT) were eligible for the study. Blood indices such as RBC, HGB, HbA2 described and used to diagnose two types of participants. Blood indices had high multicollinearity that was modified. Logistic regression for blood indices fitted and goodness of fit indices with Area Under ROC curve (AUC) estimated. Results: The average age of the participants was 24.56 yr. The status of Multicollinearity between independent variables was modified. The HGB, MCV, HbA2, and HbA variables were used in the model and only HbA2 status was significant (P<0.001). According to the output of the model, for each unit increase in HbA2, the chance of having BTT was about 8.5 times higher than IDA. The sensitivity, specificity, AUC curve, and accuracy of the final model were estimated to be 97, 72, 84, and 93%, respectively. A regression formula to differentiate BTT from IDA proposed. Conclusion: In studies related to the differentiation of the BTT from IDA, the presence of the HbA2 index in the model and prediction is very necessary.