Serum Zinc Level and Its Related Factors in Women in the Community Oriented Field of Kermanshah (2004)

Introduction: Zinc has been known as an essential trace element in human, animal and plant nutrition. During pregnancy, the daily requirement increases to 25% and its serum level decreases. The serum level of zinc in adults is arranged from 80 to 150 μg/dl. Considering the importance of this trace element and its role during pregnancy, this study was conducted on pregnant women in the community oriented field of Kermanshah (COFK) during 2004.

Materials and Methods: 172 pregnant women in COFK were studied and anthropocentric and demographic data was collected by interview. The serum zinc level was measured by atomic absorption assay in 5 ml fasting blood sample. The data was analysed by running ANOVA, independent t-test and X². The level significance was determined at 0.05.

Results: Mean serum level of zinc was 68.3  ± 13.13 μg/dl. 129 (75%) of the women were found to have severe zinc deficiency and 25 (14.5%) of them had borderline deficiency. Serum zinc level had significant correlation with the stage of pregnancy and iron supplement intake (p<0.0001). There was not any significant correlation between the serum zinc level and age, education, women job, meat consumption, income, number of pregnancies, body mass index, the husband’s job and size of the family.

Conclusion: This study showed severe zinc deficiency in a sample of women. Zinc deficiency and its complications in pregnant women can be one of the major risk factors in the studied region. It is recommended that further studies with regarding zinc supplement during pregnancy be planned as a preventive measure.