Prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women referred toShariati hospital in Bandar Abbas, Iran

Introduction: Iron deficiency anemia is the most known form of nutritional deficiency in the world. It particularly occurs in women during their fertility age. The current researches indicate that maternal iron deficiency anemia is associated with preterm delivery and low birth weight. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women who referred to Dr. Shariati hospital in Bandar Abbas. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 401 pregnant women were randomly selected. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, serum iron, serum ferritin, and red blood cell morphology of the patients were investigated and less than 11 gr/dl hemoglobin was considered anemia. For statistical analysis of the data, chi-square, t-test and logistic regression were used and p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The results indicated that prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency anemia among subjects were 17.5% and 13%, respectively. The risk of iron deficiency anemia was 3.07 for those women who had pica during their pregnancy (p<0.001) and it was 2.19 for those women who had premature delivery (p<0.001). Based on the results, there was a significant relationship between iron deficiency and the number of bleeding days during menstruation (p<0.05). Conclusion: Iron deficiency anemia is a preventable disease and pregnant women are highly at risk of the disease. It seems that more preventive programs and pregnancy care can reduce the risk of the disease.