Prevalence and associated factors of anemia among pregnant women of Mekelle town: a cross sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundNutritional anemia is the most common type of anemia worldwide and mainly includes iron, folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin C deficiencies. Anemia is a global public health problem affecting people in all age groups but the burden of the problem is higher in pregnant women. The study aimed to assess prevalence of anemia and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care in governmental health institutions in mekele town.MethodsInstitution based cross-sectional study was employed. Systematic random sampling procedure was employed to select 619 study subjects. Pretested questionnaire were used to collect the data. The predictive value of the variable to Anemia was identified by bivariate and multiple logistic regression analysis.ResultThe overall prevalence of anemia among pregnant women was 19.7%. Meal frequency less than two per day [AOR 3.93 95% CI (2.0,7.9)], Low Dietary Diversity score [AOR 12.8 95% CI (6.4,25.6)], Medium Dietary Diversity score [AOR 2.4 95% CI (1.2,4.8)], Parity [AOR 2.3 95% CI (1.4,3.8)] and Meat consumption less than once per week [AOR 2.2 95% CI (1.0,4.9)] were found to be factors affecting Anemia in pregnant women.ConclusionAnemia among pregnant women is found to be mild public health problem in the study area. Parity, meal frequency, dietary diversity and meat consumption were significantly and independently affect anemia of pregnant women. Using family planning methods and improved meat consumption contributes for decreasing prevalence of anemia. Moreover, Diversifying food intake and increasing meal frequency of pregnant women is highly recommended.

Predictors of anemia in pregnant women residing in rural areas of the Oromiya region of Ethiopia

“…These findings are supported by previous analyses in Ethiopia [6,7,10,15]. Pregnancy increases the requirements for iron in the body and often multiple pregnancies deplete the iron stores in the women's body, especially if they are closely spaced.…”

“…schistosomiasis, hookworm infection), prior use of contraceptives, use of iron supplementation, birth spacing/intervals, parity and gravidity, educational attainment, age, body weight, trimester of pregnancy and wealth status. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The relationship between anemia and dietary practices in Ethiopia has shown mixed results [12,18,19].…”

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

“…The finding of this study is consistent with study conducted in Ethiopia showed that 21.3% of pregnant women were anemic. 12,13,14,15,16 The finding of this study is inconsistent with other study which is done in Western Nepal, Morang District and Eastern Nepal were 41.0 percent, 47.24% and 46.6% respectively prevalence of anemia among pregnant women. 17,18 Finding is also inconsistent with the national data showed that the prevalence of anemia among pregnant were 46 %.…”

Factors Associated with Anemia among Lactating Mothers in Subsistence Farming Households from Selected Districts of Jimma Zone, South Western Ethiopia: A Community Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…Based on the guidelines of micronutrient deficiency prevention and control, all ANC attending mothers are counseled for the benefit of adequate nutrition. In addition, they are also screened for presence of absence of some diseases including anemia [36]. In the current study, mothers who didn't fully attend the four WHO recommended visits were twice more likely to be anemic than mothers who fully attended all the recommended ANC visits, AOR=2.37 (95% C.I.…”