Vitamin B12 deficiency among Newly-Arrived Syrian Refugees in Central Anatolia of Turkey
Purpose: Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) has the most complex chemical structure of all vitamins and it is obtained naturally only from products of animal origin in developing countries. Vitamin B12deficiency is prevalent in countries of origin of refugees. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency among newly-arrived Syrian refugees in Central Anatolia of Turkey. Journal of Anatolian Medical Research 2017; 2(1): 22-30Orjinal Araştırma23Methods: Newly arrived 256 refugees aged ≥ 16 years were tested for vitamin B12 level and other hematological parameters. Results: We found that 50 participants (19.5%) had vitamin B12 deficiency (≤ 150 pmol/L). Low levels of vitamin B12 were prevalent among males those over the age of 50 (44.4%) (p=0.01) and females those under the age of 50 (75%) (p<0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study shown that, the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency was higher in Syrian refugees, especially in older men and younger women. To our knowledge, this is the first nationally representative study for Central Anatolia of Turkey about vitamin B12 deficiency in refugees.
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