Prevalence and associated risk factors of anaemia among women attending antenatal and post-natal clinics at a public health facility in Ghana

Philip Kofie; Elvis E Tarkang; Emmanuel Manu; Hubert Amu; Martin Amogre Ayanore; Fortress Yayra Aku; Joyce Komesuor; Martin Adjuik; Fred Binka; Margaret Kweku

doi:10.1186/s40795-019-0303-x

Prevalence and associated risk factors of anaemia among women attending antenatal and post-natal clinics at a public health facility in Ghana

BMC Nutr. 2019 Sep 23:5:40. doi: 10.1186/s40795-019-0303-x. eCollection 2019.

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, PMB 31, Ho, Volta Region Ghana.
² 2Department of Population and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, PMB 31, Ho, Volta Region Ghana.
³ 3Department of Family and Community Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, PMB 31, Ho, Volta Region Ghana.

Abstract

Background: Anaemia among pregnant women and post-partum mothers is a public health challenge in Ghana, especially in the Volta Region. While literature abounds on anaemia among pregnant women, the same cannot be said for anaemia among post-partum mothers in the region. This study, therefore, examined the prevalence and associated risk factors of anaemia among women attending antenatal care and post-natal care.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional survey recruited 409 pregnant women and 194 post-natal mothers attending antenatal and post-natal care, at the Hohoe Municipal Hospital. Background characteristics were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire, blood samples were analysed for the presence of anaemia and malaria parasitaemia and folders were reviewed for estimated blood loss.

Results: We found the prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women and post-partum mothers to be 33 and 16% respectively. Higher malaria parasitaemia (2%) was found in pregnant women compared with postpartum mothers (1%). We found that 4% of post-partum mothers had abnormal blood loss (301mls-500mls) whereas 5% of them had postpartum haemorrhage (>500mls) during child birth. A univariate logistics regression of anaemia status on some risk factors in pregnant women showed no significant association between anaemia and any of the risk factors. Among post-partum mothers, only mothers' age was statistically significant in the univariate analysis [COR = 0.27 (95% CI:0.103, 0.72);0.008]. Mothers aged 20-29 were 73% less likely to be anaemic.

Conclusion: The prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women found in this study points to a situation of moderate public health problem according to WHO cut-off values for the public health significance of anaemia. Strategies should therefore be put in place to encourage thorough health education and promotion programmes among both pregnant and post-partum women.

Keywords: Anaemia; Antenatal care; Ghana; Hohoe municipal hospital; Hohoe municipality; Post-natal care; Post-partum mothers; Pregnant women.