Prevalence and social determinants of anemia in pregnant women in Essaouira Province, Morocco

Abstract

The objective of this study is to provide data on the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women and to examine factors associated with anemia in Essaouira province, Morocco. To study the prevalence of anemia, we analyzed 3806 obstetrical files of pregnant women between February 2015 and January, 2016. 1558 women had anemia. The hemoglobin values allowed us to define and to classify anemia, and to calculate its severity in the population. To study the factors associated with anemia, we conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey among 725 pregnant women selected by simple random sampling. We collected information on bio-demographic, socio-economic and socio-cultural characteristics and performed a binary logistic regression to assess the association between these factors and anemia. Data on the food consumption among anemic women were also collected. The prevalence of anemia was high among pregnant women in the province of Essaouira, amounting to 41%. The results of the binary logistic regression showed that anemia is associated with the gravity the woman's origin and literacy. Results showed also that the diet of anemic women was poor on iron and it could be a factor of development of anemia in this province. In Morocco, nutritional problems could hamper human development and improvement of health status. Knowledge of the prevalence and the severity of deficiencies are necessary to develop intervention strategies adapted to the national context.