Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Oct 10:7:712.
doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-712.

Haemoglobin status and predictors of anaemia among pregnant women in Mpigi, Uganda

Sam Ononge  1 , Oona Campbell, Florence Mirembe
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Haemoglobin status and predictors of anaemia among pregnant women in Mpigi, Uganda

Sam Ononge et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

Background: Anaemia in pregnancy is a major public health problem especially in the low-income countries where it is highly prevalent. There has been no recent study in Uganda about the factors associated with anaemia in pregnancy. We aimed to assess the current haemoglobin (Hb) status and factors associated with anaemia (Hb < 11.0 g/dl) in pregnant women in Mpigi, Uganda.

Methods: We assessed Hb levels of 2436 pregnant women at 28+ weeks of gestation at six health facilities, who were approached to participate in a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial of antenatal distribution of misoprostol (for self-administration after home birth or when oxytocin is not available). Women were administered a questionnaire and their baseline blood haemoglobin was examined using portable HemoCueR Hb 301 system. Predictors of anaemia were estimated using linear and logistic regression analysis.

Results: The mean Hb was 11.5 (± 1.38) g/dl and prevalence of anaemia (Hb < 11.0 g/dl) was 32.5% (95% CI 30.6%, 34.3%). After adjusting for measured confounders, factors associated with increased risk of anaemia in pregnancy were malaria infection (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.58), Human Immuno-deficiency Virus infection (OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.36, 2.90) and lack of iron supplementation (OR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.36, 2.03). Intermittent presumptive treatment of malaria, maternal age and parity showed a weak association with anaemia in pregnancy

Conclusion: The high prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy in our setting highlights the need to put more effort in the fight against malaria and HIV, and also ensure that pregnant women access iron supplements early in pregnancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. WHO: World wide prevalence of anaemia 1993–2005; WHO Global database on anaema. [http://www.who.int/vmnis/database/anaemia/]
    1. Haider BA, Olofin I, Wang M, Spiegelman D, Ezzati M, Fawzi WW. Anaemia, prenatal iron use, and risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2013;346:f3443. doi: 10.1136/bmj.f3443. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rasmussen K. Is There a Causal Relationship between Iron Deficiency or Iron-Deficiency Anemia and Weight at Birth, Length of Gestation and Perinatal Mortality? J Nutr. 2001;131(2S-2):590S–601S. - PubMed
    1. Siega-Riz AM, Hartzema AG, Turnbull C, Thorp J, McDonald T, Cogswell ME. The effects of prophylactic iron given in prenatal supplements on iron status and birth outcomes: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2006;194(2):512–519. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2005.08.011. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dicko A, Mantel C, Thera MA, Doumbia S, Diallo M, Diakite M, Sagara I, Doumbo OK. Risk factors for malaria infection and anemia for pregnant women in the Sahel area of Bandiagara, Mali. Acta Trop. 2003;89(1):17–23. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2003.07.001. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types