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

Table 6 Multivariate analysis of clinical malaria and its effects on anemia, iron deficiency, and soluble transferrin receptors among school aged children

Variables	Low Hb levels			Low ferritin concentration			High sTfR levels
Variables	aOR	95% CI	P-value	aOR	95% CI	P-value	aOR	95% CI	P-value
Clinical malaria
Yes	3.54	(2.19–5.72)	< 0.0001	1.17	(0.50–2.75)	0.7225	3.02	(2.02–4.52)	< 0.0001
No	1.00			1.00			1.00
Sex
Female	1.02	(0.65–1.58)	0.9470	1.61	(0.76–3.43)	0.2136	1.11	(0.77–1.60)	0.5919
Male	1.00			1.00			1.00
Age
5–10	1.72	(1.05–2.83)	0.0320	1.11	(0.52–2.40)	0.7887	0.91	(0.62–1.35)	0.6374
11–14	1.00			1.00			1.00
Fever in last 2 weeks
Yes	1.09	(0.65–1.96)	0.7314	1.16	(0.45–2.90)	0.7580	1.63	(1.06–2.50)	0.0268
No	1.00			1.00			1.00
Diarrhea in last 2 weeks
Yes	1.19	(0.48–2.96)	0.7151	1.68	(0.22–13.1)	0.6185	1.29	(0.59–2.79)	0.5244
No	1.00			1.00			1.00
Elevated CRP or AGP
Yes	2.65	(1.65–4.26)	< 0.0001	1.29	(0.53–3.13)	0.5688	1.35	(0.90–2.053)	0.1461
No	1.00			1.00			1.00
Household hunger scale
Little to none	0.86	(0.53–1.38)	0.5280	0.83	(0.38–1.82)	0.6378	1.07	(0.71–1.60)	0.7482
Moderate to severe	1.00			1.00			1.00
Place of residence
Urban	0.51	(0.19–1.32)	0.1643	0.95	(0.30–3.06)	0.9343	0.72	(0.35–1.49)	0.3750
Rural	1.00			1.00			1.00
Geographical region
Northern	0.98	(0.51–1.88)	0.9472	2.04	(0.77–5.29)	0.1433	0.93	(0.54–1.62)	0.8087
Central	0.80	(0.43–1.49)	0.4840	1.77	(0.73–4.28)	0.2050	1.05	(0.63–1.77)	0.8463
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, aOR adjusted odds ratio, CI confidence interval

ISSN: 1475-2875