Abstract
BackgroundAnemia in pregnancy is a serious global public health problem in most developing countries and a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Somalia which already had very high maternal mortality ratio of 829 per 100,000 live births, pregnant women in internally displaced camps (IDPs) remain at most exposed. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence, severity and associated risk factors of anemia among pregnant women in internally displaced camps in Mogadishu, Somalia.MethodsA community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 383 households in the most IDP settled districts in Mogadishu. Every pregnant mother in these sampled households who was voluntarily consented was targeted. A sample of blood was also taken by pricking the fingertip and inserted into hemoglobin meter. Those with Hb < 11 g/dl from hemoglobin meter had been taken another sample of 3 cc blood and put into EDTA tube for CBC analysis to identify the type of anemia. Data on risk factors were collected using structured pretested questionnaire via an interview. Collected data was coded and entered in SPSS- Version 22 for analysis. Descriptive analysis, bivariate chi-square and multivariate logistic regression were done.ResultsThe overall prevalence of anemia among study participants was 44.4% (95%CI: 39.5-49.3%), where severe and moderate anemia were 11.8 and 47.0% respectively. In addition all anaemic cases were microcytic hypochromic anemia. Young maternal age, low Family income, fewer/zero parity, being at third or second trimesters, lack of ANC attendance during pregnancy, lack of iron supplementation during pregnancy, taking tea immediately after meal during pregnancy, lower/zero frequency of daily meat and vegetables consumption during pregnancy were associated risk factors of anemia.ConclusionThe anemia prevalence from this study was severe public health problem. Several factors were found to be associated with anemia during pregnancy. Measures has to be taken to curb the problem by including them mass iron supplementation and health education towards identified risk factors.
Highlights
Anemia in pregnancy is a serious global public health problem in most developing countries and a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality
Based on WHO cut off values, anemia prevalence in this study is regarded as severe public health problem [16]
The result of this study shown that anemia was 2.266 more prevalent in pregnant women who did not take iron supplements during pregnancy than those who had (AOR = 2.166; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.410–3.327). this is because Requirements for absorbed iron increase in an average of ~ 4.4 mg/day in the entire gestation period [34, 35]
Summary
Anemia in pregnancy is a serious global public health problem in most developing countries and a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Anemia is a public health problem that affects 1.62 billion people worldwide, which corresponds to 24.8% of the world population [1]. Anemia is a common health problem for women and children of developing countries [2, 3]. 20% of this maternal death is caused by anemia; the majority of this is taking place in developing countries [7]. Of the 41.8% of pregnant women it affects globally, the highest prevalence are in Africa (57.1%) which corresponds to 17.2 million [5]
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