Prevalence and Risk Factors of Anaemia among Antenatal Care (ANC) Attendants at the Kintampo North Municipal Hospital

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Anaemia in pregnant women is a common global phenomenon. It is endemic in developing countries and often results in complications for both the mother and the foetus (born or unborn). Neonates born to iron-deficient mothers are more susceptible to anaemia, are low birthweight or preterm and have higher mortality. WHO estimates showed that Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence of 57.1%. The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence and assess the factors associated with anaemia among antenatal care attendants at Kintampo North Municipal Hospital (KMH). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 496 pregnant women, who attended KMH between May and June 2019, to estimate the prevalence of anaemia and its associated factors among them. Structured questionnaires were used to obtain information on socio-demographic factors, medical history and key dietary consumption patterns of participants. The main outcome of interest is anaemia in pregnancy defined as a haemoglobin concentration of 11.0g/dl or less. Test of associations between independent variables thus age, marital status, parity and occupation, and the dependent variable (anaemia) was examined using chi-squared/exact tests. Binary logistic regression models were also fitted after dichotomizing the outcome by whether the woman had anaemia or not. Statistical significance was assessed at the 5% level and 95% confidence intervals were constructed around estimates where applicable. RESULTS: In total, 496 participants were enrolled in the study. The mean (±sd) age of the subjects was 28.3 ± 5.6 years. The prevalence of anaemia was 28.4% (21.1% mild and 7.3% moderate). Maternal anaemia was significantly associated with mother’s educational level (p<0.001), occupation (p<0.001), vegetable/fruit consumption (p<0.001) and pica (p<0.001). Results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that maternal anaemia was also significantly associated with educational level: (basic, p=0.015; junior high school, p=0.049), occupation (self-employed, p=0.002; unemployed, p=0.014, other, p<0.001) frequency of vegetable consumption (once a week, p=0.009; twice a week, p<0.001) and pica (yes, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Prevalence of anaemia in pregnant women was 28.4%. Pica, educational level, occupation and frequency of intake of dark green leafy vegetables and fruits were associated with anaemia among pregnant women. It is therefore important to continue health promotion on adequate intake of vegetables, fruits and avoidance of pica, especially during pregnancy.