Deficiency of B vitamins in women of childbearing age, pregnant, and lactating women in Brazil: a systematic review

de Macedo, Tatiane Salgado Galvão; Mocellin, Michel Carlos; Ribas, Simone Augusta; Teixeira, Michelle Teixeira; Pereira, Alessandra da Silva; Palermo, Gabriel Montalvão; Curioni, Cintia Chaves

doi:10.1186/s13643-025-02861-9

Systematic Reviews

Table 1 Characteristics and results of the included studies

From: Deficiency of B vitamins in women of childbearing age, pregnant, and lactating women in Brazil: a systematic review

Author, year/state	Sample source	Target population	Age (years)^a	B vitamins assessed	Method for biomarker diagnosis	Number of participants analyzed (n)	Value adopted for deficiency diagnosis B12 (pg/mL) Folate (ng/mL) B6 (nmol/L)	Prevalence of deficiencies (95% CI)
Barbosa et al., 2008 [26]/SP	Randomly selected volunteers	WCA	30.9 (29.3–32.6)^b	B12	CLIA	102	< 200 < 244 < 350	10.0 (5.0–17.0) 20.6 (13.9–29.4) 52.9 (43.3–62.3)
				SF			< 3 < 6	2.0 (0.0–7.0) 37.0 (28.0–47.0)
				EF			< 160	2.0 (0.5–6.9)
Barnabé, 2014 [27]/SP	Collection service at the Clinical Hospital of Unicamp	PW	14–43	B12	ECLIA	291	< 200	8.0 (5.0–12.0)
		PW	14–43	SF		291	< 4	0.0 (0.0–0.02)
		LW	14–40	B12		54	< 200	2.0 (0.0–10.0)
		LW	14–40	SF		54	< 4	0.0 (0.0–7.0)
Cavalcanti, 2018 [28]/PE	Outpatient Gynecology Clinic of the Municipal SUS Network	WCA	15–45	B12	ECLIA	1156	< 200	7.0 (6.0–9.0)
Cavalcanti, 2018 [28]/PE	Outpatient Gynecology Clinic of the Municipal SUS Network	WCA	15–45	EF	ECLIA	1171	< 140	0.09 (0.02–0.48)
Donangelo et al., 1989 [29]/RJ	Public hospital/maternity	LW	25.9 ± 5.6^c	B12	Radioisotope dilution assay	LW ≤ 30 dpp: 35	< 150	29.0 (15.0–46.0)
				B12		LW > 30 dpp: 30	< 150	0.0 (0.0–12.0)
				SF		LW ≤ 30 dpp: 36	< 3	11.0 (3.0–26.0)
				SF		LW > 30 dpp:31	< 3	26.0 (12.0–45.0)
Oliveira et al., 2017 [30]/RS	Pelotas 1982 Birth Cohort	WCA	22–23	SF	Immunoassay	1330	< 3	0.0 (0.0–1.0)
		WCA				1330	< 4	3.0 (2.0–4.0)
		OB				128	< 3	0.0 (0.0–3.0)
		OB				128	< 4	2.0 (0.0–7.0)
Paiva et al., 2003 [31]/SP	Two public hospitals	PW	14–32	B12	Immunoassay	36	< 197	22 (10.0–39.0)
				EF	Ion capture method	28	< 228	25.0 (12.7–43.4)
				SF	Ion capture method	33	(…)	(…)
Palchetti et al., 2017 [32]/SP	General urban population of the city of São Paulo	WCA	≥ 20	B12	Microbiological method	62	< 200	0.0 (0.0–6.0)
Palchetti et al., 2017 [32]/SP	General urban population of the city of São Paulo	WCA	≥ 20	SF	Microbiological method	62	< 3.0	2.0 (0.0–9.0)
Palchetti et al., 2022 [33]/SP	Subsample of ISA-Capital 2015	WCA	20–49	B12	ECLIA	99	< 200	29.4 (20.4–40.2)
Palchetti et al., 2022 [33]/SP	Subsample of ISA-Capital 2015	WCA	20–49	SF	ECLIA	99	< 4	0.8 (0.1–5.5)
Pinto et al., 1973 [34]/DF	Only hospital in the city of Sobradinho	WCA	(…)	B12	Microbiological method	30	< 140	0.0 (0.0–12.0)
		WCA		SF		30	< 4	10.0 (2.0–27.0)
		PW		B12		PW ≤ 20 WG: 33	< 140	0.0 (0.0–10.0)
				B12		PW > 20 WG: 46	< 140	9.0 (2.0–21.0)
				SF		PW ≤ 20 WG: 28	< 4	12.0 (3.0–27.0)
				SF		PW > 20 WG: 45	< 4	24.0 (13.0–39.0)
		LW		B12		35	< 140	6.0 (0.0–20.0)
		LW		SF		35	< 4	54.0 (37.0–71.0)
Santos, 2016 [35]/AC	Primary health care prenatal services	PW	13–40	SF	Fluorimmunoassay	506	< 3	0.0 (0.0–1.0)
Steluti, 2014 [36]/SP	Subsample of ISA-Capital 2008	WCA	12–49	B12	B12: CLIA SF; B6: HPLC	143	< 200	20.0 (15.0–26.0)
				SF		205	< 3	1.0 (0.0–4.0)
				B6		143	< 20	1.9 (0.6–6.2)
			12–19	B12		69	< 200	13.0 (7.0–23.0)
				SF			< 3	3.0 (0.0–10.0)
				B6			< 20	0.0 (0.0–5.3)
Tavares et al., 2004 [37]/PA	Parkatêjê Indigenous people	WCA	≥ 20	B12	CLIA	26	< 190	0.0 (0.0–13.0)
Tavares et al., 2004 [37]/PA	Parkatêjê Indigenous people	WCA	≥ 20	SF	CLIA	26	< 3	15.0 (4.0–35.0)
Tedesco et al., 2016 [38]/PR	Private bariatric surgery clinic	OB	18–49	B12	(…)	23	< 140 < 200	4.3 (0.8–21.0)4.3 (0.8–21.0)
Tedesco et al., 2016 [38]/PR	Private bariatric surgery clinic	OB		SF			< 3 < 4	34.8 (18.8–55.1)65.2 (44.9–81.2)

(…) missing information, AC acre, B6 serum vitamin B6, B12 serum vitamin B12, CLIA chemiluminescence immunoassay, DF Distrito Federal, ECLIA electrochemiluminescence immunoassay, EF erythrocyte folate, HPLC high-performance liquid chromatography, ISA-Capital ISA-Capital: Health Survey of São Paulo, LW, lactating women, LW > 30 dpp, lactating women > 30-day postpartum, LW ≤ 30 dpp, lactating women ≤ 30-day postpartum, OB women of childbearing age with obesity, PA Pará, PE Pernambuco, PR Paraná, PW pregnant women, PW > 20 WG, pregnant women > 20-week gestation, PW ≤ 20 WG, pregnant women ≤ 20-week gestation, RJ Rio de Janeiro, RS Rio Grande do Sul, SF serum folate, SP São Paulo, SUS Unified Health System, WCA women of childbearing age
^aAge presented in range
^bGeometric mean (95% CI: 95% confidence interval)
^cMean and standard deviation

Back to article page

ISSN: 2046-4053

Contact us

Submission enquiries: Access here and click Contact Us
General enquiries: journalsubmissions@springernature.com

You are viewing the site in preview mode

Systematic Reviews

Contact us