Conditions: Fatigue Iron Deficiency
Keywords: Fatigue Blood donation Iron deficiency Ferrous sulphate Donation Donors Iron Ferritin Hemoglobin Anemia Anaemia Haemoglobin Don Women blood donors
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 154
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to determine the subjective response of iron substitution (Tardyferon®) on fatigue in women blood donors with a mean serum ferritin \< 30ng/ml and to assess variation of ferritin and hemoglobin after a blood donation.

Detailed description:
* Actually, there's no recommendation to check ferritin level in blood donors, even if several studies pointed out the high prevalence of iron deficiency after a blood donation. Furthermore, some clinical trials showed that non-anaemic women with unexplained fatigue may benefit from iron supplementation.
* The purpose of this study is to determine the subjective response of iron substitution (Tardyferon®) on fatigue in women blood donors with a mean serum ferritin \< 30ng/ml and to assess variation of ferritin and hemoglobin after a blood donation.
* We will measure blood count, ferritin level and C-reactive protein at the time of the blood donation and then after a week, a month and 3 months.

A week after the blood donation, donors with a ferritin level \<30 ng/ml and hemoglobin \> 120g/l (non anaemic) will be included in the study and randomised. A one-month iron treatment vs placebo will be introduced. To assess the subjective response on fatigue, the donors will fill in different questionnaires at the time of the blood donation and then after a week, a month and 3 months.

Arms:
arm 1: None arm 2: None

Interventions: intervention 1: Ferrous sulphate intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Volunteers will receive 80 mg/day oral ferrous sulphate (Tardyferon®) for four weeks. Visual analogical scales and questionnaires will be performed at day 0 and 30 to quantify fatigue (" Fatigue Severity Scale"). We will also check depression and anxiety symptoms (" Prime MD ") and health survey (" SF-12 "). An evaluation of the menstruation (" Pictorial Bleeding Assessment Chart " of Jansen) will be performed at day 0 to detect a possible hypermenorrhea (appendix 1-4). A physical test will be performed (Chester Step Test) to assess the VO2 max. Every side effect will be written on follow-up notes. intervention 2: Volunteers will receive 1 pill/day oral placebo for four weeks. Visual analogical scales and questionnaires will be performed at day 0 and 30 to quantify fatigue (" Fatigue Severity Scale"). We will also check depression and anxiety symptoms (" Prime MD ") and health survey (" SF-12 "). An evaluation of the menstruation (" Pictorial Bleeding Assessment Chart " of Jansen) will be performed at day 0 to detect a possible hypermenorrhea (appendix 1-4). A physical test will be performed (Chester Step Test) to assess the VO2 max. Every side effect will be written on follow-up notes.

Protocol document: