Publication:

Sociodemographic determinants of anaemia in pregnant women at antenatal clinic booking

Background Anaemia is a common complication in pregnancy with adverse outcome. Early identification of women at risk and instituting prophylactic measures will help prevent its development. Objectives were to determine the prevalence and determinants of anaemia in pregnant women at antenatal booking.

Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. The participants were 410 pregnant women aged ≥18 years, booking for antenatal care at a gestational age (GA) ≤24 weeks. The recruitment spanned from January to July 2023. Information on maternal age, parity, GA at booking, marital status, religion, education and occupation of the woman and her spouse, and last birth interval, were collected. Data was analysed with statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 25, using descriptive and inferential statistics. Multivariate logistics regression was used to determine adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals at a p value of <0.05.

Results There were 410 participants, 136 (33.2%) were anaemic. Of these 130 (31.7%) had mild anaemia (Hb 9.0–10.9 g/dl), while 6 (1.5%) had moderate anaemia (Hb 7.0–8.9 g/dl). Factors associated with anaemia after multivariate analysis were Christian religion (aOR=5.49; p=0.028), lower socioeconomic status (aOR=1.77; p=0.009), late booking (aOR=2.76; p=0.003), and birth interval <2 years (aOR=2.12; p=0.003). The risk of anaemia was five-fold likely for a Christian than a Moslem, twice likely for lower socioeconomic status, about three-fold likely when booking late, and twice likely with short inter-pregnancy interval.

Conclusions The prevalence of anaemia at booking was 33.2%. Determinants of anaemia at booking were Christian religion, lower socioeconomic status, late booking, and birth interval less than two years.