Implication of asymptomatic and clinical Plasmodium falciparum infections on biomarkers of iron status among school-aged children in Malawi

Table 3 Univariate analysis of asymptomatic malaria and its effect on anemia, iron deficiency, and soluble transferrin receptors among school aged children

Variables	Low Hb levels			Low ferritin concentration			High sTfR levels
Variables	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value
Asymptomatic malaria
Yes	4.92	(3.18–7.61)	< 0.0001	1.21	(0.56–2.64)	0.6245	3.46	(2.39–5.01)	< 0.0001
No	1.00			1.00			1.00
Sex
Female	1.16	(0.77–1.75)	0.4782	1.65	(0.78–3.50)	0.1867	1.18	(0.83–1.69)	0.3628
Male	1.00			1.00			1.00
Age
5–10	2.14	(1.35–3.41)	0.0013	1.19	(0.56–2.51)	0.6507	1.00	(0.69–1.45)	0.9815
11–14	1.00			1.00			1.00
Fever in last 2 weeks
Yes	1.65	(1.04–2.65)	0.0342	1.26	(0.51–3.15)	0.6155	1.90	(1.26–2.87)	0.0023
No	1.00			1.00			1.00
Diarrhea in last 2 weeks
Yes	1.83	(0.80–4.20)	0.1535	1.70	(0.22–12.9)	0.6070	1.76	(0.84–3.69)	0.1359
No	1.00			1.00			1.00
Elevated CRP or AGP
Yes	4.00	(2.58–6.19)	< 0.0001	1.48	(0.65–3.39)	0.3506	1.93	(1.33–2.80)	0.0005
No	1.00			1.00			1.00
Household hunger scale
Little to none	0.78	(0.50–1.21)	0.2652	0.86	(0.41–1.80)	0.6970	0.84	(0.58–1.23)	0.3798
Moderate to severe	1.00			1.00			1.00
Place of residence
Urban	0.31	(0.12–0.78)	0.0125	0.97	(0.33–2.86)	0.9573	0.49	(0.25–0.99)	0.0482
Rural	1.00			1.00			1.00
Geographical region
Northern	0.87	(0.46–1.67)	0.6782	1.89	(0.76–4.66)	0.1674	0.82	(0.47–1.45)	0.5016
Central	1.01	(0.54–1.90)	0.9806	1.82	(0.76–4.36)	0.1772	1.09	(0.63–1.88)	0.7616
South	1.00			1.00			1.00

Bold font indicates statistical significance
CRP C-reactive protein, AGP Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, Hb hemoglobin, sTfR soluble transferrin receptors, OR odds ratio, CI confidence interval

ISSN: 1475-2875