Haemoglobin status and predictors of anaemia among pregnant women in Mpigi, Uganda

Abstract

BackgroundAnaemia in pregnancy is a major public health problem especially in the low-income countries where it is highly prevalent. There has been no recent study in Uganda about the factors associated with anaemia in pregnancy. We aimed to assess the current haemoglobin (Hb) status and factors associated with anaemia (Hb < 11.0 g/dl) in pregnant women in Mpigi, Uganda.MethodsWe assessed Hb levels of 2436 pregnant women at 28+ weeks of gestation at six health facilities, who were approached to participate in a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial of antenatal distribution of misoprostol (for self-administration after home birth or when oxytocin is not available). Women were administered a questionnaire and their baseline blood haemoglobin was examined using portable HemoCueR Hb 301 system. Predictors of anaemia were estimated using linear and logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe mean Hb was 11.5 (±1.38) g/dl and prevalence of anaemia (Hb < 11.0 g/dl) was 32.5% (95% CI 30.6%, 34.3%). After adjusting for measured confounders, factors associated with increased risk of anaemia in pregnancy were malaria infection (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.58), Human Immuno-deficiency Virus infection (OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.36, 2.90) and lack of iron supplementation (OR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.36, 2.03). Intermittent presumptive treatment of malaria, maternal age and parity showed a weak association with anaemia in pregnancyConclusionThe high prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy in our setting highlights the need to put more effort in the fight against malaria and HIV, and also ensure that pregnant women access iron supplements early in pregnancy.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Anaemia among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in the Second and Third Trimesters at Pumwani Maternity Hospital, Kenya

“…This finding corroborates with previous studies such as in Ethiopia [17] [28], Uganda [29], Nigeria [30], Vietnam [31] and India [32] which indicated that lack of iron supplementation is among the most significant risk factors for developing anaemia during pregnancy. The reason for this might be pregnant women who take their iron tablets which can help them to increase their hemoglobin level and prevent anaemia during pregnancy time.…”

Determinants of Anemia Among Pregnant Women Attending in a Tertiary Level Hospital, Kathmandu

“…This finding is consistent with study showed that hemoglobin status of women who had been on iron supplements had a higher mean hemoglobin or women who were not taking iron supplements had approximately 60% higher odds of anemia (p=0.001). 24 This finding is consistent with study done in India showed that those women who had just started to consume, not consuming were 33.3 percent of anemia than those pregnant women were consume full course.…”

Anaemia in Pregnant Women of Sokoto Residents in North Western Nigeria

“…This observation may be attributed to reduced sample size for those above 40 years and the believe that anaemia in pregnancy increases with rising parity which leads to repeated drain on iron stores [22]. The high prevalence of anaemia among the pregnant women less than 19 years in this study, agrees with the observation of previous authors [11,16] but disagrees with the other researcher [9]. However, the high prevalence amongst the teenage mothers may be associated with lack of awareness or poor knowledge of antenatal services and probably failure to book early at the ANC.…”

“…The differences in the prevalence rates of anaemia in pregnant women with age groups of less than 19 years, 20-24 years, 25-29 years, 30-34 years, 35-39 years, and >40 years, were not statistically significant in this research and these results are similar to the findings of other authors [15,16]. However, prevalence of anaemia decreases with increasing age but pregnant women above 40 years had the highest prevalence in this study.…”

“…The overall prevalence of anaemia (Hb <11.0 g/dL) among the pregnant women in this study was 39.2% and this agrees with the previous findings [16,20,21] but it is contrary with the higher prevalence of 54.5-76.5% documented by other researchers [9][10][11]. However, the low prevalence of anaemia in this study may be associated with environmental factors and regular health education provided by the antenatal clinic.…”