Anthropometric Indices, Nutritional Status and Age at Menarche in Female Sickle Cell Anaemia Patients in Lagos

The nutritional status, anthropometric indices and the retrospective attainment of menarche were studied in homozygous sickle cell patients. The control subjects were 150 students in the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos whose genotype were AA. The homozygous sickle cell patients were 200 in number and they were outpatients of the Sickle Cell Clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idiaraba. . Questionnaires were prepared and handed over to the students and patients to fill. Before this however, measurements of the mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and the body mass index (BMI) were measured. The mean MUAC for the control subjects was 26.23 ± 0.58cm while that of the sickle cell group was 21.98 ± 0.27cm. This difference was statistically significant (P = 0.0001). The mean BMI was significantly lower in the sickle cell patients (19.6 ± 0.21) as compared with the control subjects, which was 21.56 ± 0.26 (P = 0.0001). The mean retrospective age of the control subjects at menarche was12.74 ± 0.14yr while that of the sickle cell patients was 15.71 ± 0.17yr. The difference is statistically significant (P = 0.0001). The results showed that in sickle cell disease, there was a 2.97-years delay in the attainment of menarche for the Nigerian female patients and also anthropometric indices of these were low even though the nutritional status was better than the control. Key words: Sickle cell disease, adolescence, menarche, body weight, Nigeria [Nig. Jnl Health & Biomedical Sciences Vol.1(2) 2002: 91-93