Objective: Intervention with iron supplementation, deworming, and information, education and communication (IEC) to improve the haematological status among each of the three trimesters of pregnant women in a rural community. Design: A community-based study was carried out using a two-group pre ± post experimental design in a rural community. Setting: Two rural blocks in Vellore district were selected for the study. KV Kuppam block with a population of 120,000 and the adjacent Gudiyatham block with a population of 132,000 served as study and control areas for the study. Subjects: Using a multistage sampling, initially 50% of the panchayats, the local village administrative units, were randomly selected and all pregnant women were the subjects. In the pre-intervention survey 458 and 387 pregnant women had haemoglobin tested and the post-intervention survey covered 403 and 425 pregnant women in the study and control areas, respectively. Similarly serum ferritin was tested in a randomly selected subsample with 254 and 191 pregnant women before intervention and in 216 and 223 pregnant women after intervention in both study and control areas, respectively. Intervention: Iron supplementation and deworming were provided to all pregnant women in the study area from the fourth month of their pregnancy. An intensive information, education and communication was carried out with facts on anaemia and diet modi®cation to each pregnant woman, using a one-to-one approach in the community, and a group method in the mobile clinics. This was carried out for a period of 18 months. Results: A signi®cant decrease in the prevalence of anaemia was found, from 56.1% to 25.07% (P`0.001), 73.4% to 49.2% (P`0.001) and 68.8% to 56.8% (P`0.01) among women in the ®rst, second and third trimesters, respectively, in the intervention area. Signi®cant (P`0.001) increases in the mean haemoglobin of 0.85 gadl (95% CI 10.18 ± 10.84, 11.09 ± 11.63), 0.59 gadl (95% CI 9.98 ± 10.34, 10.55 ± 10.95) and 0.36 gadl (95% CI 9.93 ± 10.33, 10.25 ± 10.73) were also observed in each of the groups. Conclusion: A comprehensive community-based intervention with iron supplementation, helminthic treatment and increase in knowledge using IEC through effective strategies can improve the haematological status of pregnant women in each trimester.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.