{"title":"Microcytic and Malarial Anaemia Prevalence in Urban Children ≤15 Years in the Mount Cameroon Area: A Cross-Sectional Study on Risk Factors.","authors":"Sharon Odmia Sama, Seraphine Njuontsop Chiamo, Germain Sotoing Taiwe, Gwendolyne Elobe Njume, Irene Ule Ngole Sumbele","doi":"10.1155/2021/5712309","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Anaemia, a common nutritional deficiency, is a public health problem in the Mount Cameroon area. This study determined the prevalence and possible risk factors of microcytic and malarial anaemia in children less than ≤15 years residing in the Buea and Limbe municipalities in the Mount Cameroon area.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 566 children were clinically examined in a cross-sectional study from December 2018 to August 2019 for anaemia and malaria parasites. Blood samples collected were used in evaluating full blood count with the aid of an automated haemoanalyser, and malaria parasite was confirmed by microscopy. Anaemia was defined based on WHO standards while microcytic anaemia and malarial anaemia were defined as microcytosis + anaemia and malaria + anaemia, respectively. Factors that showed significance in the bivariate analysis were entered into a multinomial logistic regression to determine risk factors for microcytic and malarial anaemia.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The overall prevalence for anaemia, microcytosis, microcytic anaemia, and malarial anaemia was, respectively, 68.7%, 48.9%, 36.9%, and 19.6% with microcytic anaemia representing 53.7% of all anaemic cases. Risk factors for microcytic anaemia included child age of 1-5 years (<i>P</i>=0.007), forest ethnicity (<i>P</i>=0.019), parents being farmers (<i>P</i>=0.038) or jobless (<i>P</i>=0.009), and having moderate malaria parasitaemia (<i>P</i>=0.048) while those for malarial anaemia were child age of 6-10 years (<i>P</i>=0.008), parents' age of 26-35 years (<i>P</i>=0.049), parents being jobless (<i>P</i>=0.023), and consuming plantains 3-4 times (<i>P</i>=0.024) a week.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Microcytic anaemia is getting to be a severe public health concern while malarial anaemia is a mild public health issue in children residing in urban areas of Mount Cameroon. Parents' occupation was directly linked to all anaemia forms; hence, any intervention to curb anaemia should consider aspects that will raise the socioeconomic status of the population.</p>","PeriodicalId":46055,"journal":{"name":"Anemia","volume":"2021 ","pages":"5712309"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2021-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8049821/pdf/","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Anemia","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5712309","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2021/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HEMATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
Background: Anaemia, a common nutritional deficiency, is a public health problem in the Mount Cameroon area. This study determined the prevalence and possible risk factors of microcytic and malarial anaemia in children less than ≤15 years residing in the Buea and Limbe municipalities in the Mount Cameroon area.
Methods: A total of 566 children were clinically examined in a cross-sectional study from December 2018 to August 2019 for anaemia and malaria parasites. Blood samples collected were used in evaluating full blood count with the aid of an automated haemoanalyser, and malaria parasite was confirmed by microscopy. Anaemia was defined based on WHO standards while microcytic anaemia and malarial anaemia were defined as microcytosis + anaemia and malaria + anaemia, respectively. Factors that showed significance in the bivariate analysis were entered into a multinomial logistic regression to determine risk factors for microcytic and malarial anaemia.
Results: The overall prevalence for anaemia, microcytosis, microcytic anaemia, and malarial anaemia was, respectively, 68.7%, 48.9%, 36.9%, and 19.6% with microcytic anaemia representing 53.7% of all anaemic cases. Risk factors for microcytic anaemia included child age of 1-5 years (P=0.007), forest ethnicity (P=0.019), parents being farmers (P=0.038) or jobless (P=0.009), and having moderate malaria parasitaemia (P=0.048) while those for malarial anaemia were child age of 6-10 years (P=0.008), parents' age of 26-35 years (P=0.049), parents being jobless (P=0.023), and consuming plantains 3-4 times (P=0.024) a week.
Conclusion: Microcytic anaemia is getting to be a severe public health concern while malarial anaemia is a mild public health issue in children residing in urban areas of Mount Cameroon. Parents' occupation was directly linked to all anaemia forms; hence, any intervention to curb anaemia should consider aspects that will raise the socioeconomic status of the population.
期刊介绍:
Anemia is a peer-reviewed, Open Access journal that publishes original research articles, review articles, and clinical studies on all types of anemia. Articles focusing on patient care, health systems, epidemiology, and animal models will be considered, among other relevant topics. Affecting roughly one third of the world’s population, anemia is a major public health concern. The journal aims to facilitate the exchange of research addressing global health and mortality relating to anemia and associated diseases.