Combinations of Fe tablets and dragon fruit and combinations of Fe tablets and date straw on increasing hemoglobin levels in adolescent women with anemia

Abstract Anemia is a health problem related to the extensive presence of a variety of noncommunicable diseases in developing countries. Indeed, the prevalence of anemia in Indonesia in women of childbearing age (aged 15-49 years) in 2019 was around 29.9%; in West Kalimantan in 2018, it was 23.8%. The rate of anemia in young women can be overcome by increasing hemoglobin levels. One approach is to enhance the consumption of dragon fruit or date palm juice which can increase hemoglobin levels. This research aims to determine the effectiveness of giving a combination of Fe tablets and dragon fruit or a combination of Fe tablets with date palm juice on hemoglobin levels in anemic adolescent girls. The design of this study was a True Experiment with pre-test and post-test control groups. Research respondents were anemic adolescent girls, a total of 32 people, with 16 in each group. With regard to the hemoglobin levels before and after administration of Fe tablets and dragon fruit, based on the paired t-test, the mean difference was 4.32 g/dl, with P-Value = 0.000. Thus, there is effectiveness in this intervention group. In the combination group of Fe tablets and date palm juice, the mean difference was 3.062 g/dl. P-Value = 0.001 (P<0.05). Hence, there is effectiveness in enhancing hemoglobin levels in this intervention group. Applying an independent t-test to determine the difference in the effectiveness of the two interventions revealed a P-value = 0.054, meaning that there was no significant difference between the two interventions in increasing hemoglobin levels.