Blood tests for iron status are among the most common requested in clinical medicine. This may be largely justified because of the prevalence of iron deficiency combined with a relatively common genetic condition of haemochromatosis.

In Australia, iron deficiency, defined by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) as a ferritin level below 30 ug/L, affects only 3.4% of men but 22.3% of women according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics survey in 2011-2012. The issue in women is particularly related to premenopausal women (16-44 years) where 34.1% are iron deficient.

This is not surprising when nutrition surveys show that 40% of premenopausal women have inadequate dietary iron intake.