Prevalence and associated risk factors of anaemia among women attending antenatal and post-natal clinics at a public health facility in Ghana

Abstract

Background: Anaemia among pregnant women and post-partum mothers is a public health challenge in Ghana, especially in the Volta Region. While literature abounds on anaemia among pregnant women, the same cannot be said for anaemia among post-partum mothers in the region. This study, therefore, examined the prevalence and associated risk factors of anaemia among women attending antenatal care and post-natal care. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional survey recruited 409 pregnant women and 194 post-natal mothers attending antenatal and post-natal care, at the Hohoe Municipal Hospital. Background characteristics were collected using a semistructured questionnaire, blood samples were analysed for the presence of anaemia and malaria parasitaemia and folders were reviewed for estimated blood loss. Results: We found the prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women and post-partum mothers to be 33 and 16% respectively. Higher malaria parasitaemia (2%) was found in pregnant women compared with postpartum mothers (1%). We found that 4% of post-partum mothers had abnormal blood loss (301mls-500mls) whereas 5% of them had postpartum haemorrhage (>500mls) during child birth. A univariate logistics regression of anaemia status on some risk factors in pregnant women showed no significant association between anaemia and any of the risk factors. Among post-partum mothers, only mothers' age was statistically significant in the univariate analysis [COR = 0.27 (95% CI:0.103, 0.72);0.008]. Mothers aged 20-29 were 73% less likely to be anaemic. Conclusion: The prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women found in this study points to a situation of moderate public health problem according to WHO cutoff values for the public health significance of anaemia. Strategies should therefore be put in place to encourage thorough health education and promotion programmes among both pregnant and post-partum women.

Maternal anaemia during postpartum: Preliminary findings from a cross‐sectional study in Dodoma City, Tanzania

“…This prevalence is statistically significantly high and stakeholders are urged to plan for possible interventions to curb the situation. The current finding is similar to previous studies conducted in both developed (Bergmann et al, 2010;Bodnar et al, 2001;Garrido et al, 2017) and developing countries (Ghadeer et al, 2019;Kofie et al, 2019). However, the current prevalence is far less than what was reported from a study conducted in Uganda (64.4%) (Sserunjogiet al, 2003) and India (76.2%; Selvaraj et al, 2019).…”

“…Despite the fact that the prevalence of postpartum anaemia is considerable and its effects are significant in many places worldwide, the problem has not received adequate attention even in developed countries (Garrido et al, 2017;Milman, 2011). Lack of standardized practice for diagnosis and management of anaemia during postpartum period is a challenge that has resulted in limited information on postpartum anaemia worldwide (Garrido et al, 2017;Ghadeeret al, 2019;Kofie et al, 2019;Petraro et al, 2013). For instance, in Tanzania, prevalence of postpartum anaemia was reported in a study conducted some 20 years ago.…”

Proportion of Immediate Postpartum Anaemia and Associated Factors among Postnatal Mothers in Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…(ferment teff flour), and fruits that do have high iron content [21]. However, this proportion was higher than the Amhara region DHS data report (17.2%) [6]; the study was done in Kenya (16.4%) [8] and Ghana (16%) [31]. e variations might be because the above studies cover a wide range of areas and include all breastfeeding mothers who were far from the immediate postpartum period or close to 6-week and 6-month postpartum period.…”

Risk factors associated with anemia among women of reproductive age (15–49) in Albania: A quantile regression analysis

“…14 The predominance of anemia among pregnant women in Albania are higher (22%) than the women who are neither pregnant nor breastfeeding (15%). 14 Anemia among women of reproductive age is a common issue which depends on various factors and obviously vary over time and location, 15,16 thus needs to be investigated on a regular basis. In the past, most of the examinations have identified the potential risk factors of anemia by utilizing several techniques and various statistical models.…”