International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Khan T et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2018 Dec;6(12):4002-4007 www.msjonline.org
Original Research Article
pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20184898
Unfeasible body mass index and its association with low haemoglobin concentration: a correlation study among undergraduate medical students Tazeen Khan1, Zahid A. Khan*2, Sonia Kochhar1, Baljinder Singh1, Gurdev L. Goyal1, Ruby Sharma1 1
Department of Physiology, 2Department of Community Medicine, MM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India Received: 02 October 2018 Accepted: 29 October 2018 *Correspondence: Dr. Zahid A. Khan, E-mail:
[email protected] Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Low hemoglobin concentration and unfeasible body mass index adversely affect the health of people, consequently increasing morbidity and mortality among them. Hemoglobin concentration among individuals is associated with their body mass index. The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia is higher among underweight and overweight/obese people compared to those with normal BMI. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the correlation between hemoglobin concentration and BMI of undergraduate medical students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 210 undergraduate medical students. Body mass index was calculated and hemoglobin estimation was done by Sahli's hemoglobinometer. Correlation between hemoglobin concentration and body mass index of subjects was assessed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: Underweight students had lowest mean hemoglobin concentration and the mean hemoglobin concentrations increased significantly (p
