Risk factors of anemia among Women of Reproductive Age in Rwanda: implications for designing better interventions

Abstract

Background Anemia among Women of Reproductive Age (WRA) continues to be among the major public health problems in many developing Rwanda where It was increased comparing 2015 to 2010 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) reports. A thorough understanding of the its risk factors is necessary to design new better approaches. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study assessing factors associated with anemia among WRA has been conducted. Therefore, this study aims to identify anemia risk factors among WRA in Rwanda. Methods This was a quantitative, cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) 2014-2015. The study population consisted of 6680 WRA who were tested for anemia during the survey. Anemia was defined as having equal or below to 10.9 g/dl for a pregnant woman, and hemoglobin level equal or below to 11.9 g/ for a non-pregnant woman. Pearson’s chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression were conducted for bivariate and multivariable analysis respectively. We reported Odds Ratio (OR), 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) and p-values. We used Stata version 14.2 for all analyses. Results The prevalence of anemia among WRA was 19.2% (95% CI: 18.0 - 20.5). After controlling for other variables, the factors associated with were being obese (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.40 - 0.91), being in rich category (OR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.63 - 0.87), sleeping under a mosquito net (OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.74 - 0.98), and using hormonal contraceptives (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.50 - 0.73). The factors associated with higher odds of anemia were being underweight (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.09 - 1.78), using an Intra Uterus Device (OR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.05 - 3.75), and living in the Southern province (OR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.11 - 1.89) or in the Eastern province (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.06 - 1.88). Conclusion Anemia continues to pose public health challenges; novel public health interventions should consider geographic variations, improve women economic status, and strengthen iron supplementation especially for IUD users. Additionally, given the association between anemia and malaria, interventions to prevent malaria should be enhanced.

Determinants of anemia in women of reproductive age in Indonesia: Secondary data analysis of the 2018 Indonesia Basic Health Research

“…Varied results were found in studies conducted in Bangladesh 19 and Rwanda. 20 The study in Bangladesh reported that women with low education, working and living in rural areas are more likely to have anemia. 19 Different results were found in Rwanda where there was no relationship between education and anemia but widows were more likely to have anemia.…”

“…19 Different results were found in Rwanda where there was no relationship between education and anemia but widows were more likely to have anemia. 20 Research in Myanmar 21 found that high parity is more likely to be connected with anemia.…”

Occurrence of Iron Deficiency Anemia and Its Correlating Factors among Female Undergraduate Medical Students at Kampala International University in Western Uganda

“…More than 100 million African children are thought to be anaemic and community-based estimates of anemia prevalence in children in settings where malaria is endemic range between 49% and 76% [19] but there is no documentation on the prevalence of anemia among female University students in African settings. In East Africa, anemia continues to be a serious public health problem, the prevalence of anemia in women of reproductive age such as female university students is higher, which ranges from 19.2% in Rwanda to 49% [20,21]. A recent study in Mwanza, Tanzania reported a prevalence rate of anemia at 77.2% [22].…”

Factors associated with anaemia among pregnant women in Rwanda: An analysis of the Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey of 2020

“…Previous studies in Rwanda have focused on women of reproductive age in general [27][28][29][30][31], with only one study focusing on anaemia among pregnant women [32]. Moreover, this was a hospital-based study, and therefore not representative of all pregnant women in Rwanda [32].…”