Prevalence of Anemia in Pregnant Women and Its Associated Socioeconomic Factors

Abstract

Background: Anemia during pregnancy is an important public health problem, in developing countries. This community based study was conducted in Northeast India to study the prevalence of anemia along with the associated socioeconomic factors. Methods: The present one-year cross sectional study was carried out in the selected villages under Lahowal Block of Dibrugarh District and the relevant data was collected in a pre-designed and pre-tested proforma by house to house interviews. The sample size was calculated 310. Clinical examination was done and haemoglobin estimation was performed using Sahli’s acid hematin method. Data were analyzed in Microsoft Excel using percentage, range, t-test and ANOVA; wherever applicable. A significance level of 5% was taken with 95% confidence interval Results: Anemia was seen in 89.68% of the subjects. The highest mean hemoglobin (Hb) level was observed in the 1st trimester subjects (9.14 gm/dl), while the lowest mean Hb-level was observed in the 3rd trimester subjects (8.90 gm/dl). A significant difference was observed between the mean Hb-levels of the study subjects belonging to nuclear families and joint families, subjects belonging to different socio-economic status, different levels of education, different professions, those consuming tobacco and those not consuming tobacco, and those consuming betel nut and not consuming betel nut. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of anemia in pregnancy which was related to the socioeconomic status, occupational status, level of education, type of family, and personal habits in these women.