Objective: To estimate the prevalence and severity of anaemia among non-pregnant women in rural Bangladesh and describe its social distribution. Design: A cross-sectional study conducted in February±March 1996. Haemoglobin concentration was measured on a capillary blood sample by cyanmethaemoglobin method. The World Health Organization (WHO) classification was used to define anaemia. Setting: Twelve randomly selected villages in Fulbaria thana of Mymensingh district, about 110 km northwest of Dhaka city in Bangladesh. Subjects: A systematically selected sample of 179 non-pregnant apparently healthy women aged 15±45 years. Results: Anaemia was highly prevalent (73%; 95%CI 67±79%). Most of the women had mild (52%) or moderate (20%) anaemia, but a few of them suffered from severe anaemia (1%). Ascaris was common (39%) while hookworm was not (1%). The anaemia prevalence had no statistically significant association with age, parity or Ascaris infestation P . 0X05 X Women with less than 1 year of schooling, who were landless or who reported having an economic deficit in the household had significantly higher prevalence of anaemia P , 0X05 X There was a significantly increasing trend in anaemia prevalence with decreasing socioeconomic situation (SES). However anaemia was common in all social strata. Conclusions: Although the overall anaemia prevalence among non-pregnant rural women is high, only a few women suffer from severe anaemia. Women of all SES groups irrespective of their age and parity are affected by anaemia.
KeywordsAnaemia Severe anaemia Non-pregnant women Socioeconomic Rural Bangladesh Anaemia is a major public health problem. It has been estimated that 2150 million people in the world are anaemic, of whom about 50% are thought to suffer from iron deficiency anaemia 1 . Iron deficiency and anaemia are most prevalent among pregnant women and young children with the highest prevalence in low income countries 2 . Iron deficiency and anaemia during pregnancy are associated with low birth weight, preterm delivery and increased perinatal mortality 3±5 . Routine supplementation of iron through the primary health care system has been widely practised to reduce maternal anaemia, although the programmes have shown limited effectiveness 6,7 .Women of reproductive age in low income countries who are currently not pregnant are also affected by anaemia 8 . The most important functional consequences are fatigue and reduced productivity 9 . However, the recent interest in iron supplementation of non-pregnant women is mostly rationalized by its potential impact on maternal anaemia. Prepregnancy haemoglobin concentration and iron status are believed to be predisposing factors for maternal anaemia.Several studies have found a negative association between socioeconomic situation (SES) and anaemia prevalence 10±12 . Women from poor households are usually found to have higher anaemia prevalence. Poor SES is known to be associated with a number of factors such as high parity, short birth interval, poor diet both in quant...