MAGNITUDE OF ANEMIA AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CARE IN SHALLA WOREDA, WEST ARSI ZONE, OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Anemia during pregnancy is a common problem in developing countries and affects both themother’s and her child’s health. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of and the factorsassociated with anemia among pregnant women.METHODS: Facility based cross-sectional study design was conducted from June to August, 2011 on 374 pregnantwomen. Mothers who came for ANC during the study period and who met the inclusion criteria were interviewedand a capillary blood sample was taken. Hemoglobin level was determined by using HemoCue photometer, andinterviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were cleaned, coded and fed into SPSSversion 16.0 for analysis.RESULT: The mean hemoglobin concentration was 12.05 1.5 g/dl and prevalence of anemia was 36.6%. Familysizes (COR=2.67, CI (1.65, 4.32), third trimester (COR=1.45, CI (1.11, 2.23), meat consumption <1x/wk (COR=3.47,CI (1.58, 7.64) and pica (COR=2.33, CI (1.52, 3.58) were significantly associated with anemia. Having five or morechildren (AOR=5.2, CI [1.29, 21.09]), intake of vegetables and fruits less than once per day (AOR= 6.7, CI [2.49,17.89]), intake of tea always after meal (AOR = 12.83.CI [45-28.9]), and recurrence of illness during pregnancy(AOR=7.3, CI [2.12-25.39]) were factors associated with anemia.CONCLUSION: This study showed that anemia is a moderate public health problem. Less frequent meat andvegetable consumption, parity ≥5 are risk factors for anemia. Therefore, reducing parity, taking balanced diet anduse of mosquito nets during pregnancy are recommended.