Abstract
Introduction Anemia continues to be a major public health problem significant among women of reproductive age (WRA) in developing countries, including Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), where the prevalence of anemia among women remains high. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among WRA 15–49 years in Lao PDR. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study, using the Lao Social Indicator Survey II, 2017 dataset. A total of 12,519 WRA tested for anemia were included in this study, through multistage sampling approaches. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the associated factors of anemia. Results Of 12,519 women, 4,907 (39.2%) were anemic. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that living in central provinces (aOR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.96–2.38), rural area (aOR: 1.1, 95% CI: 1.00–1.20), large family size with more than 6 persons (aOR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.01–1.29), pregnancy (aOR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.22–1.74), having any adverse pregnancy outcomes (aOR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.03–1.25), poor drinking water (aOR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.10–1.39), and poor sanitation facility (aOR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.03–1.28) were significantly associated with an increased risk of anemia. Conversely, four factors were associated with anemia preventively, including being aged 25–34 years (aOR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.74–0.90), postsecondary education (aOR: 0.76, 95% CI: 0.60–0.97), Hmong-Mien ethnicity (aOR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.39–0.59), and watching television almost daily (aOR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.75–0.95). Conclusion Anemia continues to be a major public health challenge in Lao PDR. Interventions should be considered on geographic variations, improving safe water and sanitation facility, promoting of iron supplements during pregnancy, and health education through mass media for women in rural areas.
Highlights
Anemia continues to be a major public health problem significant among women of reproductive age (WRA) in developing countries, including Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), where the prevalence of anemia among women remains high. is study aimed to assess the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among WRA 15–49 years in Lao PDR
Anemia is a global public health problem, with major consequences for human health as well as adverse impacts on social and economic development [2]. e World Health Organization (WHO) estimates two billion anemic persons and anemia is responsible for one million deaths a year, and about threequarters of cases occur in Africa and Southeast Asia [3]. e global prevalence of anemia in pregnant and nonpregnant women was 38% and 29%, respectively, in 2011, translated to about half a million anemic nonpregnant women and 32 million anemic pregnant women
We used the data from the Lao Social Indicator Survey (LSIS) II, 2017, a nationally representative cross-sectional survey conducted in July to November 2017 by the Lao Statistic Bureau in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Sport, as part of the Global Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) Program developed by the United Nations
Summary
Anemia continues to be a major public health problem significant among women of reproductive age (WRA) in developing countries, including Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), where the prevalence of anemia among women remains high. is study aimed to assess the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among WRA 15–49 years in Lao PDR. Anemia continues to be a major public health problem significant among women of reproductive age (WRA) in developing countries, including Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), where the prevalence of anemia among women remains high. Is study aimed to assess the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among WRA 15–49 years in Lao PDR. Several studies had found various factors associated to increase the risk of developing anemia in women of reproductive age (WRA) [5,6,7] such as consumption of wells water as the sources of drinking water, having permanent sterilization, living in small and medium-sized cities, aged between 30–39 years, no or occasional smoking, spring and winter seasons, ethnicity, and having low education level. Older age, limited knowledge of anemia, pregnancy during the second and third trimesters, multiparity, and experience of abortions were more likely reasons of anemia in pregnant women and lactating women [5, 8,9,10]
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