Prevalence, morphological characterization, and associated factors of anemia among children below 5 years of age attending St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor, Gulu District, Northern Uganda

Abstract

Aim/objectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, severity, morphological characterization, and the associated factors of anemia among children under the age of 5 years at St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor, Gulu District, Northern Uganda.Materials and methodsA structured questionnaire was administered to each participant’s parent/caregiver to collect data on sociodemographic factors, feeding pattern, and history of chronic illness. Hemoglobin (Hb) estimation was performed using a HemoCue 201+ analyzer. Peripheral thin and thick blood films were made from venous blood and stained with Giemsa to morphologically characterize red blood cells (RBCs) and investigate hemoparasites, respectively. We collected and examined stool specimens from each participant using wet preparations and formol–ether concentration technique for intestinal parasites. Descriptive statistics was used to describe study participants and to determine the prevalence of anemia. Logistic regression analysis was done to determine the factors associated with acquiring anemia at a P-value≤ 0.05.ResultsThe study enrolled 343 children below the age of 5 years. Of these, 62.7% (N=215) were females. The IQR, median, and mean Hb levels were 5.1±3.2 g/dL, 8.2 g/dL, and 7.9 g/dL, respectively. Overall, 160 (46.6%, 95% CI: 42.1–51.46) children had anemia. The magnitude of severe, moderate, and mild anemia was 11.9%, 58.8%, and 29.4%, respectively. Morphologic characterization of anemia revealed hypochromic-microcytic (65.4%, N=106), hypochromic-macrocytic (15.4%, N=25), and normochromic-microcytic (19.1%, N=31) anemia. Factors associated with anemia were parasitic infestation, history of chronic disease, lack of complementary foods, complementary feeding for not more than twice a month, and households’ with annual income less than 200,000 Ugandan Shillings.ConclusionWe report the high prevalence of anemia among children below 5 years of age in Gulu District, Northern Uganda. Thus, strategies geared at addressing the etiologic causes (such as, nutrient deficiency and parasitic infections) are key to reduce it in the region.

Prevalence of Anaemia in Children Treated in Kepala Batas, Penang

“…Our study further revealed the predominant morphological form of anaemia in children was hypochromic microcytic anaemia, being observed in 82% of children followed with normochromic normocytic anaemia for 18%. Prevalence of hypochromic microcytic was higher compared to the previous study conducted in Northen Uganda [16]. Their study shows the prevalence of hypochromic microcytic anaemia was 15.4% and slightly lower percentage for normochromic normocytic (10.1%).…”

“…However, there were no significant associated factors found. A study among children below five years of age attending St. Mary's Hospital Lacor, Gulu District, Northern Uganda [16] found that infestation with parasites, lack of complementary feeding and average of household income had statistically significant association factor for anaemia. Complementary feeding is one of the important nutritional supplementations for an infant starting from six month of age.…”

Use of point‐of‐care haemoglobin tests to diagnose childhood anaemia in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review

“…Thirty‐nine additional records were identified from reviewing related articles and citation lists. In total, 45 records from 41 studies met inclusion criteria and were included in our review [3, 5, 6, 13, 15, 19, 22, 28–65]. Figure 1 shows reasons for exclusions.…”

“…Competency of staff and therefore performance should increase as these tests become routine practice. Our findings also suggest five POC(Hb)Ts used may not be suitable for use in some LMICs due to possible device failure at high temperature (>30°C) (Table 1) [15, 19, 32, 35, 39, 42, 50–52, 57].…”

Study of etiological patterns and various clinical presentations of anemia in children aged 6 months to 5 years admitted in a tertiary care hospital

“…This difference may be attributed to the limited sample size taken in the study. Ocan et al [15] who conducted a cross-sectional study in 6 months to 5 years age group had the highest prevalence of 30.3% among 12 to 23 months. The higher incidence of anemia under the age of 24 months in the present study may be due to multiple factors like rapid growth in this age, delayed weaning, complementary foods with low iron bioavailability and dietary monotony.…”