(P42-32-26) A Scoping Review Protocol of Iron Homeostasis, Screening, and Supplementation in Pregnant Women and Young Children: An Update From the 2016 NIH Workshop

Objectives: Determine if research gaps identified during the 2016 Office of Dietary Supplements workshop on iron in pregnancy and young children were addressed in published literature. Themes of interest are (1) iron homeostasis and implications for iron status and supplementation response; (2) improving assessment of iron status; (3) linking iron status to health outcomes beyond hematology and iron deficiency anemia; and (4) supplementing iron-replete individuals.

Methods: The review was designed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for Scoping Reviews. Eligible studies will be original research articles in English that include pregnant and child-bearing age women, infants, or children under 6 years-old from highly or very highly developed countries according to the 2025 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Program. The search strategy was drafted and refined using results from a pilot search. The final search in PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase will filter for English and date (September, 2016 or later) and will include terms related to [population in title, abstract, or keywords] and [iron status in title, abstract, or keywords]; exclude [irrelevant publication types in title or using database filter], [non-human studies in title], [irrelevant countries in title] and [other irrelevant terms identified during the pilot search in title, abstract, or keywords]. Covidence software (Veritas Health Innovation, Melbourne, Australia) will be used for all screening and data extraction. All articles will be screened at the title/abstract and full text level by the first reviewer. Second reviewer verification will occur at the title/abstract and full text level until 15% of articles reach 90% agreement. A third reviewer will mediate disagreements. Data extraction will be performed by the first reviewer, using a standardized data extraction sheet. Descriptive statistics on study objectives and themes of interest will be reported and discussed within the context of research needs.

Results: N/A

Conclusions: This scoping review will clarify the current evidence landscape and inform future research priorities and clinical guidance regarding iron status across the maternal–infant continuum.

Funding Sources: ORISE Postdoctoral Fellowship at NIH’s Office of Dietary Supplements