Importance of donor history of restless leg syndrome and pica to asses iron deficiency

Iron deficiency is associated with neuropsychological changes such as restless leg syndrome (RLS), pica, hair loss, etc. Our objective was to assess usefulness of history of RLS and pica in relation with iron stores in blood donors. During medical examination, apart from routine questionnaires specific history of RLS and pica was elicited. Along with hemoglobin markers of iron deficiency such as s. iron, s. ferritin and mean corpuscular volume were analyzed. Out of 400 blood donors 41 had h/o pica/RLS/pagophagia. Positive and negative predictive value of above history is 73.17% and 80.5% respectively. We recommend the use of a screening question for pica and/or RLS in blood donor questionnaire.