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Microcytosis is associated with low cognitive outcomes in healthy 2-year-olds in a high-resource setting

Overview of attention for article published in British Journal of Nutrition, September 2017
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  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (51st percentile)
  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (53rd percentile)

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Title
Microcytosis is associated with low cognitive outcomes in healthy 2-year-olds in a high-resource setting
Published in
British Journal of Nutrition, September 2017
DOI 10.1017/s0007114517001945
Pubmed ID
Authors

Elaine K. McCarthy, Mairead E. Kiely, Geraldine Hannon, Caroline Ahearne, Louise C. Kenny, Jonathan O’B. Hourihane, Alan D. Irvine, Deirdre M. Murray

Abstract

Fe deficiency in early childhood is associated with long-term consequences for cognitive, motor and behavioural development; however explorations in healthy children from low risk, high-resource settings have been limited. We aimed to explore associations between Fe status and neurodevelopmental outcomes in low risk, healthy 2-year-olds. This study was a secondary analysis of a nested case-control subgroup from the prospective, maternal-infant Cork Babies after Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints: Evaluating the Longitudinal Impact using Neurological and Nutritional Endpoints (BASELINE) Birth Cohort Study. At 2 years, serum ferritin, Hb and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were measured and neurodevelopment was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (n 87). Five children had Fe deficiency (ferritin <12 µg/l) and no child had Fe deficiency anaemia (Hb<110 g/l+ferritin<12 µg/l). Children with microcytosis (MCV<74 fl, n 13) had significantly lower mean cognitive composite scores (88·5 (sd 13·3) v. 97·0 (sd 7·8), P=0·04, Cohen's d effect size=0·8) than those without microcytosis. The ferritin concentration which best predicted microcytosis was calculated as 18·4 µg/l (AUC=0·87 (95% CI 0·75, 0·98), P<0·0001, sensitivity 92 %, specificity 75 %). Using 18·5 µg/l as a threshold, children with concentrations <18·5 µg/l had significantly lower mean cognitive composite scores (92·3 (sd 10·5) v. 97·8 (sd 8·1), P=0·012, Cohen's d effect size=0·6) compared with those with ferritin ≥18·5 µg/l. All associations were robust after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Despite a low prevalence of Fe deficiency using current diagnostic criteria in this healthy cohort, microcytosis was associated with lower cognitive outcomes at 2 years. This exploratory study emphasises the need for re-evaluation of the diagnostic criteria for Fe deficiency in young children, with further research in adequately powered studies warranted.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 75 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 75 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 12 16%
Student > Bachelor 11 15%
Other 10 13%
Student > Postgraduate 4 5%
Researcher 4 5%
Other 11 15%
Unknown 23 31%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 23 31%
Nursing and Health Professions 9 12%
Psychology 4 5%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 3 4%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 2 3%
Other 9 12%
Unknown 25 33%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 September 2017.
All research outputs
#14,477,297
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from British Journal of Nutrition
#4,296
of 6,275 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#156,332
of 323,485 outputs
Outputs of similar age from British Journal of Nutrition
#23
of 49 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,382,440 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 6,275 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 19.5. This one is in the 31st percentile – i.e., 31% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 323,485 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 51% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 49 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 53% of its contemporaries.