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
. 2022 Jun 24;8(1):58.
doi: 10.1186/s40795-022-00550-7.

Risk factors of anaemia among postpartum women in Bolgatanga Municipality, Ghana

Anthony Wemakor  1 , Alice Ziyaaba  2 , Felix Yiripuo  2
Affiliations

Risk factors of anaemia among postpartum women in Bolgatanga Municipality, Ghana

Anthony Wemakor et al. BMC Nutr. .

Abstract

Introduction: Anaemia is a major public health problem affecting women of reproductive age globally. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence and determinants of anaemia among postpartum women in Bolgatanga Municipality, Ghana.

Methods: The study employed an analytical cross-sectional study design to recruit 405 women who delivered in the last 6 weeks from 9 health facilities in the Municipality. Data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric characteristics, dietary diversity, knowledge on iron-folic acid (IFA), iron and anaemia, and haemoglobin level of the women. Postpartum anaemia (PPA) was defined as hemoglobin < 12 g/dl. Chi-square and logistic regression analysis were used to identify the determinants of PPA.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 27.4 ± 5.3 years and 46.70% of them had PPA. The risk factors of PPA were not meeting dietary diversity [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 2.96; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.67-5.25], low knowledge on IFA, iron and anaemia (AOR = 3.03; 95% CI: 1.67-5.25), and first trimester pregnancy anaemia (AOR = 10.39; 95% CI: 1.32-6.95). Kusasi ethnicity was protective of PPA (AOR = 0.35; CI: 0.16-0.75).

Conclusion: Anaemia is prevalent in postpartum women in Bolgatanga Municipality and its risk factors are dietary diversity, knowledge on IFA, iron and anaemia, pregnancy anaemia and ethnicity. Nutrition counselling and intervention in pregnancy and after delivery are warranted to reduce the burden of anaemia in this population.

Keywords: Ghana; Iron-folic acid; Postpartum anaemia; Tamale.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Balarajan Y, Ramakrishnan U, Ozaltin E, Shankar AH, Subramanian SV. Anaemia in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet (London, England) 2011;378(9809):2123–2135. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62304-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Stevens GA, Finucane MM, De-Regil LM, Paciorek CJ, Flaxman SR, Branca F, Peña-Rosas JP, Bhutta ZA, Ezzati M. Global, regional, and national trends in haemoglobin concentration and prevalence of total and severe anaemia in children and pregnant and non-pregnant women for 1995–2011: a systematic analysis of population-representative data. Lancet Glob Health. 2013;1(1):e16–25. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(13)70001-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bodnar LM, Cogswell ME, Scanlon KS. Low income postpartum women are at risk of iron deficiency. J Nutr. 2002;132(8):2298–2302. doi: 10.1093/jn/132.8.2298. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reveiz L, Gyte GM, Cuervo LG, Casasbuenas A. Treatments for iron-deficiency anaemia in pregnancy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011(10):Cd003094. - PubMed
    1. Milman N. Postpartum anemia I: definition, prevalence, causes, and consequences. Ann Hematol. 2011;90(11):1247. doi: 10.1007/s00277-011-1279-z. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources