Epidemiological Study of Anemia in Diyala Province / Iraq

Abstract

Background: More than one billion people worldwide are affected with anemia. Studies have shown that nutritional deficiency, particularly a decrease in iron-rich food consumed, seems to be the most common cause of anemia. Objective: To study some demographic characteristics of anemia in children of different residencies of Diyala governorate/ Iraq. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study piloted in Al-Batool Teaching hospital in Baqubah / Diyala- Iraq from February 1st to Sept 30th 2019. Children was categorized according to the residency into two groups (rural & urban regions), anemia was sorted according to WHO classification: normal Hb 11 gm/dL, mild anemia 10- 10.9 gm/dL, moderate 7- 9.9 gm/ dL, and severe anemia Hb < 7 gm/dl. Results: One hundred seventeen children aged 6 months – 9 years were included in the study; 58.1% males and 41.9% females, 104 children 88.9% were less than 3.5 years, and 13 (11.1% ) children of 3.5 years and more. Sixteen children 13.7% were having normal Hb level and the remaining was anemic as follow: 35.9% mild anemia, 46.1% moderate anemia, 4.3% severe anemia, p-value 0.000. It was found that 57.3% of children belongs to family lived in urban areas, while 50 (42.7%) of them live in rural areas. The number of children who had moderate anemia was more in rural areas, p-value 0.008. Conclusion: Most of the studied children had a moderate degree of anemia and this might be due to many factors, including a residency in rural areas. Keywords: Anemia,Children, Diyala , Iraq

Effect of anemia on oral cavity and hematological assessments

“…The white blood cell counts showed an increase in the control group as compared to patients, with a statistically high significant correlation of mean ± SE (9.92 ±0.54), (7.74 ±0.26) for control and patients' group respectively as shown in Table (2). In addition, a non-significant correlation existed when comparing the control group and patients concerning platelet counts with the mean ± SE (280.60 ±20.17) versus the mean ± SE (280.03 ±14.22), as shown in Table (2).…”

“…Table ( 1) also shows the duration of anemia increase in (< 20 years old) was 40%, (36.67%) in (20-40 years old), and finally (23.33%) in (>40 years old) with a statistically non-significant correlation. As shown in Table (2), the level of hemoglobin in the control group was statistically highly significant as compared with patients with a mean ± SE (14.12 ±0.35) and (10.36 ±0.16) respectively.…”

“…Anemia can be caused by a variety of conditions, but studies suggests that nutritional deficiencies, specifically from a decrease in the consumption of foods high in iron, are the most common cause of anemia [2].…”

The association between the severity of anemia and socio-demographic factors among children under five years of age in Kut City

“…3 Anemia is frequently seen in lower- and middle-income regions, with South East Asia and Africa, reporting the most significant incidence rates. 4 In Iraq, children under five years old had a prevalence of anemia of 29.4 percent in 2019. 5 A World Health Organization (WHO) survey found that the frequency of anemia is highest among children under the age of five.…”