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. 2017 Nov 6:75:51.
doi: 10.1186/s13690-017-0215-7. eCollection 2017.

Determinants of prenatal anemia in Ethiopia

Abera Abay  1 , Haile Woldie Yalew  2 , Amare Tariku  2 , Ejigu Gebeye  3
Affiliations

Determinants of prenatal anemia in Ethiopia

Abera Abay et al. Arch Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Anemia is responsible for 20% of maternal mortality worldwide, and it is associated with premature birth, low birth weight, and infant mortality. In Ethiopia, about 22% of pregnant women are anemic. However, literatures are limited, therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) in Asossa Zone Public Health Institutions, northwest Ethiopia.

Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted from February to March 2016. Data were collected by interviewer administered, pretested and structured questionnaires. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 762 pregnant women. The hemoglobin level was determined by taking 5 ml of venous blood using Sahli's method. A multivariate binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with anemia. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was computed to show the strength of association and statistical significance was determined at a P-value of <0.05.

Results: The prevalence of anemia was 31.8% [95% CI: 28.9, 35.5]. In the adjusted analysis, maternal age of 30-34 years [AOR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.14, 0.86], household size of ≥6 [AOR = 4.27, 95% CI: 1.58, 11.45], dietary diversity [AOR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.38, 0.93], no meat consumption [AOR = 1.80, 95% CI: 1.11, 2.91], not drinking soft beverages [AOR =1.96, 95% CI: 1.19, 3.23], undernutrition [AOR = 7.38, 95% CI: 4.22, 12.91], not consuming fruits [AOR = 3.29, 95% CI: 1.59, 6.82], inter-pregnancy interval of ≥2 years [AOR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.99], and third trimester of pregnancy [AOR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.57] were significantly associated with anemia.

Conclusions: The prevalence of prenatal anemia is high in the Asossa Zone; suggesting a moderate public health concern. Socio-demographic and dietary intake characteristics were significantly associated with anemia. Therefore, improving dietary diversity and animal food consumption are the key to reduce the high burden of anemia. It is also important to strengthen interventions aiming to reduce closed birth interval and teenage pregnancy.

Keywords: Anemia; Determinants; Ethiopia; Pregnant women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by the Ethical Review Board of the University of Gondar. Ethical clearance was submitted to Benishangul Gumuz Regional Health Bureau Research and Technology Transfer Department. The letter of permission from Research and Technology Transfer Department was submitted to the Asossa Zonal Health Department and to the selected health institutions where the actual data collection was undertaken. The purpose of the study was explained and written informed consent was secured from each study participant. The right of a participant to withdraw from the study at any time, without any precondition was disclosed unequivocally. Moreover, the confidentiality of information obtained was guaranteed by all data collectors and investigators using code numbers rather than personal identifiers and by keeping the data locked. Those study participants with confirmed anemia were referred and linked to responsible health care professionals working in the selected health institutions.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Severity of anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care at Asossa Zone Public Health Institutions, northwest Ethiopia, 2016 (n = 761)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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