Prevalence of iron deficiency in reproductive-age females on anticoagulation.

Cohort studyThrombosis research· Jul 2026

Prevalence of iron deficiency in reproductive-age females on anticoagulation.

Brianna R Bakow, Rebecca L Zon, Shreya Agarwal … Lisa Baumann Kreuziger

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Venous ThromboembolismCohort studyClinical practiceQ1IF 2.8

Only 9.2% of women starting anticoagulation were screened for iron deficiency

Prevalence of iron deficiency in reproductive-age females on anticoagulation.

Brianna R Bakow … Lisa Baumann Kreuziger

Thrombosis research · Jul 2026

Background

The use of anticoagulation in reproductive-aged females increases the risk of heavy menstrual bleeding (heavy menstrual bleeding).

Purpose

We investigated the frequency with which reproductive-aged female patients on anticoagulants undergo screening for and receive a diagnosis of iron deficiency/IDA.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the TriNetX global dataset of females aged 18-55 without a diagnosis of cancer who started anticoagulation therapy.

n = 3655

9.2%

Results

9.2%

Just 9.2% of patients had ferritin checked within 90 days of starting anticoagulation.

n = 3655

More results

The initial cohort included 1,463,349 unique female patients across 93 healthcare organizations.

Exclusion of those with cancer and those without laboratory values resulted in a final cohort of 783,196.

Of those, 36.6% had a ferritin level ≤ 50 ng/mL while 25.8% had ferritin levels ≤30 ng/mL.

More results

Among individuals with ferritin ≤30 ng/mL, 19.7% (n = 3655) had a hemoglobin ≥12 and 44.0% (n = 8170) had MCV < 80 fL.

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Conclusion

Future studies and interventions are indicated to increase screening and expedite treatment of iron deficiency/IDA in reproductive-aged female patients starting anticoagulation.

Prevalence of iron deficiency in reproductive-age females on anticoagulation.

Prevalence of iron deficiency in reproductive-age females on anticoagulation.

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