Prevalence of Anemia and Its Associated Factors among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in Health Institutions of Arba Minch Town, Gamo Gofa Zone, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background. Anemia during pregnancy is a major cause of morbidity and mortality of pregnant women in developing countries and has both maternal and fetal consequences. Despite its known serious effect on health, there is very little research based evidence on this vital public health problem in Gamo Gofa zone in general and in Arba Minch town of Southern Ethiopia in particular. Therefore, this study aims to assess the prevalence and factors associated with anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care in health institutions of Arba Minch town, Gamo Gofa zone, Southern Ethiopia. Method. Institution-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from February 16 to April 8, 2015, among 332 pregnant women who attended antenatal care at government health institutions of Arba Minch town. Interviewer-administered questionnaire supplemented by laboratory tests was used to obtain the data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify predictors of anemia. Result. The prevalence of anemia among antenatal care attendant pregnant women of Arba Minch town was 32.8%. Low average monthly income of the family (AOR = 4.0; 95% CI: 5.62–11.01), having birth interval less than two years (AOR = 3.1; 95% CI: 6.01, 10.23), iron supplementation (AOR = 2.31; 95% CI: 7.21, 9.31), and family size >2 (AOR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.17, 6.81) were found to be independent predictors of anemia in pregnancy. Conclusion. Anemia is found to be a moderate public health problem in the study area. Low average monthly income, birth interval less than two years, iron supplementation, and large family size were found to be risk factors for anemia in pregnancy. Awareness creation towards birth spacing, nutritional counselling on consumption of iron-rich foods, and iron supplementation are recommended to prevent anemia among pregnant women with special emphasis on those having low income and large family size.

Prevalence and obstetric factors associated with anaemia among pregnant women, attending antenatal care in Unguja island, Tanzania

“…This could be due to the fact that the requirement for iron increases during pregnancy for the growing fetus and placenta, the blood volume of pregnant woman decreases by 50% during this period as a result, supplementation of iron during pregnancy is critical to fulfil this requirement. 26 The finding of this study is in agreement with other previous studies conducted in Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Vietnam and Pakistan which pointed out that lack of iron supplementation is amongst the most significant risk factors for developing anaemia in pregnant women. [27][28][29][30][31] Thus, this give the impression that the most effective intervention to reduce the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women is education in the proper use of iron and folic acid supplements as well as proper nutrition which contain iron-rich food sources.…”

“…This finding is consistent with other studies conducted in India, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, which found that pregnant women with less interval than 2 years spacing between previous and index pregnancy were more likely to get anaemia. 26,29,[37][38][39] Therefore, intervention focusing on birth intervals could be appropriate in order to reduce the prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women.…”

Prevalence and severity of anemia among pregnant women in primary health centers/Erbil City

“…Bekele et al, conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence and factors associated with anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care in health institutions of Arba Minch town, Gamo Gofa zone, Southern Ethiopia, who mentioned that birth spacing was independent predictors of anemia in pregnancy, which was consistent to the results of present study [23].…”

Magnitude of Anemia and Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women Visiting Public Health Institutions for Antenatal Care Services in Adama Town, Ethiopia

“…This study shows negative association with birth interval, thatiswomen who delay giving birth were 71% less likely to be anemic during pregnancy. Theresult of this is congruent to study conducted inIndia (Kolar District) whichstates that as the birth interval increase, the probability of being anemic is decreased among pregnant women and Study conducted in Arba Minch(Ethiopia) shows that having birth interval less than two years is significantly associated anemia in a pregnant women [27,28]. The similarity may be due to the fact that as birth interval is less than two years high bleeding during birthmay lead anemia.…”