The Relationship between Ferritin and Calcium Levels in Patients with Thalassemia β Major

Background: Thalassemia is a hereditary disea­se in which the sufferer is unable to produce suf­fi­cient amounts of hemoglobin, causing impaired function of red blood cells and shortened red blood cell age. Thalassemia sufferers are spread all over the world, and thalassemia is one of the health problems in the world. Therapy in patients with thalassemia is with routine blood trans­fusions. One side effect of repeated transfusions is iron overload which causes deposits of iron in the endocrine glands. This study aimed to deter­mine the relationship between ferritin levels with blood calcium levels in patients with β major thalas­semia. Subjects and Method: This was a cross-sec­tional study conducted at Dr. Moewardi, Sura­karta, from June to November 2017. Samples of 49 patients with thalassemia β major aged 5-10 years were selected using consecutive sampling. The dependent variable is blood calcium levels. The independent variable is ferritin level. Data were analyzed with Chi Square test. Results: High ferritin levels reduce calcium level in pediatric thalassemia β major patients, but not statistically significant (OR = 0.27; 95% CI = 0.04 to 1.64; p = 0.134). Conclusion: High ferritin levels decrease with calcium levels in pediatric thalassemia β major patients, but not statistically significant. Keyword s : ferritin, calcium, thalassemia β major Correspondence:  Andhika Trisna Putra. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sebelas Maret/ Dr. Moewardi Hospital, Surakarta. Telpon­/Fax.­0271-633348, Email: andhika.pedia­tric@gmail.­com Indonesian Journal of Medicine (2020), 05(02): 137-141 https://doi.org/10.26911/theijmed.2020.05.02.07