Awareness of Iron Deficiency Anemia among Women of Reproductive Age in Hubei Province, China

Abstract

Objective: To assess the level of awareness about causes, prevention and treatment of iron deficiency anemia among women of reproductive age in Hubei province, a south eastern province of China.Method: Cross sectional study was conducted by using a self designed standardized pretested questionnaire in peripheral areas of Wuhan city, the capital of Hubei province from January 2009 to December 2009.Women aged 18-45 years without any previous history of medical or gynecological problems were recruited.Results: A total 385 women were surveyed for Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA).77.9% women (n=300) were aware of the term IDA, with the highest proportion of 88.1% falling in age group 25-35 years. Most of the women were aware of the fact that their diet contains iron and its importance in health. Women who had children and of working class had greater knowledge about the iron deficiency anemia. Conclusion: Awareness regarding IDA is directly linked with the educational and social status of a community and is found to be increasing with the passage of time with exploration and accessibility to media and health care facilities. Women of younger ages are more concern about their own health and much careful about their expected babies in terms of nutritional facts as compared to the elder ladies.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Pregnant Mothers towards Preventions of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Ethiopia: Institutional Based Cross Sectional Study

“…In addition it is well known that birth spacing practice by mother prevents anaemia [2,10]. Similarly almost greater than half of mother reported that they strongly recommend iron supplementation, family planning for the prevention of IDA which is similar finding with the responses of pregnant mothers in this study [24,27].…”

Awareness of Anemia and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care, South Ethiopia

“…According to the World Health Organization "anemia is a condition in which the number of RBCS or their oxygen-carrying capacity is insufficient to meet physiologic needs, which vary by age, sex, altitude, smoking, and pregnancy status [3]". It affects half a billion women of reproductive age worldwide that is 30.2% of non-pregnant and 41.8% of pregnant women aged 15-49 years [3]. The commonest type of anemia is IDA which is controlled by nutritional intake of Fe rich foods and taking IF supplementation [4], meanwhile women have less awareness about their health [5].…”

“…Generally, anemia is serious public health problem with global prevalence of 48.8%, in Africa 40.7% for total population and 69% and 65.8% for global and African pregnant women respectively [3]. As Ethiopia is one of the low-income countries with poor health status and rapid population growth with 4.1 fertility rate [8], and has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in Africa [9].…”

“…Anemia was found to be severe public health problem in Ethiopia that is greater than 40% of pregnant women were anemic [3]. Although identifying gap and creating awareness is essential for controlling anemia, to the best of our knowledge, studies have not been conducted to assess the level of awareness on anemia among pregnant women in Yrga Cheffe town, Ethiopia.…”

Evaluation Of Iron Deficiency Anemia Awareness In a Rural Area: Results From a Survey In a Mediterranean Region Rural Area Of Turkey

“…However, the participants in the study of Hussain T et al were all women (6). In a study conducted to determine the nutritional knowledge among adolescent girls, it was found that 30% girls knew about the sources of iron (7). On the other hand, 81(≈61 %) participants in this study thought that iron requirement of the body could be obtained mostly from the red meat ( Figure 2).…”