Prevalence of Anaemia and Its Epidemiological Determinants in Pregnant Women

Background: Nutritional anaemia in pregnant women is one of the India’s major public health problems, despite the fact that this problem is largely preventable & easily treatable. Objectives: 1.To determine the prevalence of anaemia in pregnant women. 2. To assess the epidemiological determinants of anaemia in pregnancy. Methodology: A descriptive case series study was conducted among the pregnant women from second trimester onwards from urban field practice area from 1 st March 2010 to 31 st July 2010 by using pre-designed, pre-tested, structured schedule. Haemoglobin estimation was done by Sahli’s method & anaemia was graded according to WHO criteria. Statistical analyses were done by percentages and proportions, Mean and Standard Deviation (S.D), Chi-square test. Results: A high prevalence (82.9%) of anaemia (Haemoglobin < 11.0gm/dl) was observed among 228 pregnant women. Majority (50.4%) had moderate degree of anaemia (Haemoglobin 7.0 to 10.0 gm/dl) and 7.0% had severe anaemia (Haemoglobin < 7.0 gm/dl). Severity of anaemia was more in 26 years of age, from nuclear families, educated upto secondary level, having vegetarian diet, parity two or more & those in third trimester with two or more abortions, although statistically not significant. However, anaemia prevalence was significantly higher among those subjects from below Class IV socioeconomic status, those with less than two years of spacing between previous and index pregnancies & with less than two months IFA tablet consumption. Conclusion: A very high prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy needs mandatory regular supply of IFA tablets to adolescent and pregnant women from 4 th month onwards till 3-6 months post-partum along with correction of other nutritional deficiencies and timely intervention for reducing the burden of related diseases.