Prevalence of Anemia and its associated factors among 6- 59 months age Children visiting Public Hospitals at Afar Region, Northeast Ethiopia: A Hospital-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Anemia is a severe global public health problem, especially in developing nations like Ethiopia. The Afar region is notable for its regular droughts, pastoral populations, and lack of safe drinking water. Despite its significance, no study on childhood anemia has been conducted, notably in the Afar Region. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among 6- to 59-month'-old children at Afar Region public hospitals in northeastern Ethiopia. Method A hospital-based cross-sectional study was employed among 306 6- to 59-month-old children using the systematic random sampling method who visited Afar region public hospitals from February 30 to April 30, 2023. The data entry was done using EpiData version 4.2 and Anthroplus software for anthropometric measurement, respectively. Moreover, data analysis was done through SPSS version 26. Binary logistic regression models were fitted to identify predictors of anemia. A P value ≤ 0.05 was deemed to be statistically significant. Result The overall prevalence of anemia among children under the age of five was 46.41% (95% CI: 43.8–48.9%). Of those anemic children, 62 (43.66%), 60 (42.25%), and 60 (14.08%) were mild, moderate, and severely anemic, respectively. Having an illiterate mother (AOR = 7.06, 95% CI = 2.81, 19.30), having the lowest family monthly income (AOR = 5.19, 95% CI = 1.24, 21.75), having a family size greater than five (AOR = 3.76, 95% CI = 2.82, 5.98), being in the age of 24–35 months (AOR = 3.12, 95% CI = 1.47–7.11), being in rural residence (AOR = 6.11, 95% CI = 1.49,8.99), having previous parasite infection diagnosis (AOR = 3.76,95% CI = 2.16,11.31), having early weaning feeding (AOR = 2.51,95% CI = 2.36–6.51), having malaria diagnosis before 3 months (AOR = 3.37,95% CI = 2.16–11.31), and having diarrhea in the last two weeks (AOR = 2.98,95% CI = 1.57–3.81) were important predictors of under-five age group anemia. Conclusion Anemia in children under the age of five was classified as severe in the current study and is regarded as a critical public health issue. It implies that more efforts should be made to increase safe water supply, food security, exclusive breastfeeding, deworming, and malaria control operations.