Non-Cochrane · aetiology · PM34704699
Iron deficiency and early childhood caries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Ji Shuai-Qi, Han Rui, Huang Ping-Ping, et al. · Chinese medical journal · 2021 · PubMed · doi:10.1097/cm9.0000000000001729
Full textEvery question was extracted from the full text, figures and supplements by two independent LLM extractors, disagreements adjudicated. Rows cite where in the review the value comes from.
Questions
6
current version
GRADE rated
0
No studies
0
Included studies
11
linked below
No studies 0 · 0%Ungraded 6 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%
Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Children < 6 years old / preschool children | 9981 children across 12 case-control studies; mostly aged <6 years (one study aged 1 to 7 years); India (n=4), China (n=4), USA (n=1), Canada (n=1), Iran (n=1), Egypt (n=1) |
| Intervention | Children with early childhood caries (ECC) - case group | Children with ECC (case group) |
| Comparison | ECC-free children - control group | ECC-free children (control group) |
| Outcomes | Iron status: number/proportion of ID (serum ferritin <30 ug/L without inflammation) or IDA (two of three abnormal tests: serum ferritin, HGB, MCV); where the ID/IDA count was unavailable, serum ferritin, HGB and MCV recorded as mean (SD) | ID proportion (8 studies, OR 2.63); IDA proportion (5 studies, OR 2.74); serum ferritin (5 studies, MD -5.80); HGB (5 studies, MD -9.96); MCV (5 studies, MD -3.72) |
| Study designs | Observational studies (case-control / cross-sectional); reviews, letters, abstracts, and unpublished or inaccessible full-text articles excluded | 12 case-control studies (published 2002 to 2019) |
| Timing | Not specified | Not specified |
Search date: March 2020 to September 2020. Databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (VIP); reference lists of included studies checked; corresponding authors contacted by e-mail
Questions and results
Early childhood caries (ECC) vs ECC-free children (caries-free controls)
Population: Preschool children (<6 years)
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Hemoglobin (HGB) level Overall Hemoglobin levels were significantly lower in children with ECC than in caries-free children (mean difference -9.96, 95% CI -15.45 to -4.46); ungraded. Source: Abstract; Results (HGB comparison between ECC and ECC-free groups); Figure 6 (forest plot, overall diamond) · same question in other reviews | WMD -9.96 [-15.45, -4.46] | 5 studies · 924 participants | Ungraded |
Iron deficiency (ID) Sensitivity analysis (Ramos-Gomez et al. 2002 excluded) In a sensitivity analysis excluding one outlier study, ECC remained associated with higher odds of iron deficiency (OR 2.76, 95% CI 2.42 to 3.13); ungraded. Source: Results (The proportion of ID between ECC and ECC-free groups); Figure 3 (forest plot after sensitivity analysis, overall diamond) · same question in other reviews | OR 2.76 [2.42, 3.13] | 7 studies · 9028 participants | Ungraded |
Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) Overall Children with early childhood caries were more likely to have iron-deficiency anemia than caries-free children (OR 2.74, 95% CI 2.41 to 3.11); ungraded. Source: Abstract; Results (The proportion of IDA in ECC and ECC-free groups); Figure 5 (forest plot, overall diamond) · same question in other reviews | OR 2.74 [2.41, 3.11] | 5 studies · 8764 participants | Ungraded |
Serum ferritin level Overall Serum ferritin levels did not differ significantly between children with ECC and caries-free children (mean difference -5.80, 95% CI -11.97 to 0.37); ungraded. Source: Abstract; Results (Comparison of serum ferritin between ECC and ECC-free groups); Figure 4 (forest plot, overall diamond) · same question in other reviews | WMD -5.80 [-11.97, 0.37] | 5 studies · 832 participants | Ungraded |
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) level Overall Mean corpuscular volume was significantly lower in children with ECC than in caries-free children (mean difference -3.72, 95% CI -6.65 to -0.79); ungraded. Source: Abstract; Results (MCV comparison between ECC and ECC-free groups); Figure 7 (forest plot, overall diamond) · same question in other reviews | WMD -3.72 [-6.65, -0.79] | 5 studies · 924 participants | Ungraded |
Iron deficiency (ID) Overall Children with early childhood caries were more likely to have iron deficiency than caries-free children (OR 2.63, 95% CI 1.85 to 3.73); ungraded. Source: Abstract; Results (The proportion of ID between ECC and ECC-free groups); Figure 2 (forest plot, overall diamond) · same question in other reviews | OR 2.63 [1.85, 3.73] | 8 studies · 9151 participants | Ungraded |
Included primary studies 11
Open as a trial list| Study | Also included by | Outcomes it informs here | Trial PICO | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shamsaddin 2017 matched by author and year (probable) | 1 other review | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Abed 2014 The relation between early dental caries and iron-deficiency anaemia in children DOI:10.1097/01.mjx.0000457299.68683.0b | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Bansal 2016 Association of severe early childhood caries with iron deficiency anemia DOI:10.4103/0970-4388.175508 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Deane 2018 COMBINED DEFICIENCIES OF 25-HYDROXYVITAMIN D AND ANEMIA IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN WITH SEVERE EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY DOI:10.1093/pch/pxx086.072 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Guan 2015 DOI:10.7620/zgfybj.j.issn.1001-4411.2015.29.24 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| He and Wei 2018 matched by author and year (probable) | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Iranna-Koppal 2013 Iron deficiency in young children: a risk marker for early childhood caries. PMID:25206178 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Jayakumar 2017 Estimation of Vitamin D levels in children with and without early childhood caries-A case control study DOI:10.5958/0976-5506.2018.01424.9 | this review only | Serum ferritin level | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Lu 2013 DOI:10.13329/j.cnki.zyyjk.2013.14.012 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Ramos-Gomez 2002 Bacterial, behavioral and environmental factors associated with early childhood caries DOI:10.17796/jcpd.26.2.t6601j3618675326 | this review only | Iron deficiency (ID) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Sadeghi 2012 DOI:10.4103/1735-3327.99819 | this review only | Iron deficiency (ID) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
Overlap with other reviews
Reviews that include the same primary studies are not independent evidence. Shared counts match studies by PMID, DOI or NCT, and otherwise by author and year (a probable match).
| Review | Shared studies | Jaccard |
|---|---|---|
| Association Between Iron Deficiency Anemia and Dental Caries in Children: A Systematic Umbrella Meta-Analysis. (2025) | 1 | 0.04 |