What do systematic reviews say?

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other micronutrients) vs no supplementation or placebo

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other… showed no clear difference in iron deficiency anaemia (as defined by the presence of anaemia plus… compared with no supplementation or placebo (low certainty).

• Intermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult… 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.07 [0, 1.16]
  1 study · 97 participants
  Low

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other micronutrients) vs no supplementation or placebo

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other… showed no clear difference in iron deficiency (as defined by trialists by using indicators of iron… compared with no supplementation or placebo (low certainty).

• Intermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult… 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.5 [0.24, 1.04]
  3 studies · 624 participants
  Low

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other micronutrients) vs no supplementation or placebo

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other… showed no clear difference in all‐cause morbidity (the most frequent event associated with the… compared with no supplementation or placebo (low certainty).

• Intermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult… 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.12 [0.82, 1.52]
  1 study · 119 participants
  Low

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other micronutrients) vs no supplementation or placebo

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other… showed no clear difference in any adverse side effects compared with no supplementation or placebo (moderate certainty).

• Intermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult… 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.98 [0.31, 12.72]
  3 studies · 630 participants
  Moderate

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other micronutrients) vs no supplementation or placebo

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other… may leads to lower anaemia (haemoglobin concentration below a cut‐off defined by the… compared with no supplementation or placebo (low certainty).

• Intermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult… 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.65 [0.49, 0.87]
  11 studies · 3135 participants
  Low

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other micronutrients) vs no supplementation or placebo

• Intermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult… 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  15 studies · 2886 participants
  Moderate

Intermittent iron supplementation (alone or with any other micronutrients) vs no supplementation or placebo

• Intermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult… 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  7 studies · 1067 participants
  Low