Sociodemographic and medical data of the cross-sectional cohort
| Variable | Total | Transfusion recipients | Control group |
| n=600 (%) | n=300 (%) | n=300 (%) | |
| Sex | |||
| Male | 297 (49.5) | 148 (49.3) | 149 (49.7) |
| Female | 303 (50.5) | 152 (50.7) | 151 (50.3) |
| Age group | |||
| ≤5 years | 170 (28.3) | 84 (28.0) | 86 (28.7) |
| 6–10 years | 257 (42.8) | 125 (41.7) | 132 (44.0) |
| > 10 years | 173 (28.8) | 91 (30.3) | 82 (27.3) |
| Diagnosis provided by hospital staff | |||
| Thalassemia | 298 (99.3) | – | |
| Unspecified anaemia | 2 (0.7) | – | |
| Pharyngitis | – | 107 (35.7) | |
| Acute diarrhoea | – | 109 (36.3) | |
| Common cold | _ | 27 (9.0) | |
| Cutaneous urticaria | _ | 11 (3.7) | |
| Anorexia | _ | 14 (4.7) | |
| Asthma | _ | 9 (3.0) | |
| Other | _ | 23 (7.6) | |
| Number of blood transfusions | |||
| 1–5 | 61 (20.3) | – | |
| 6–10 | 34 (11.3) | – | |
| 11–15 | 15 (5.0) | – | |
| >15 | 190 (63.3) | – | |
| Blood volume received per transfusion (mL) | |||
| ≤250 | 74 (24.7) | _ | |
| >250 | 226 (75.3) | _ | |