Prevalence and epidemiological aspect of Anemia Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Centers in Alniaryah province- Eastern Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background: Anemia during pregnancy is a global public health problem affecting maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Objectives: The present study was conducted to measure the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women attending governmental antenatal care clinics in Alniaryah province and to determine associated epidemiological features. Subjects and Methods: the study is a descriptive one carried out on pregnant women attending antenatal care clinics in the two primary health care facilities in Alniaryah province- Eastern Saudi Arabia during the period from year 2011 to year 2013.Data extraction sheet was designed to collect data from records about socio-demographic characteristics, obstetrical history, gynecological history, medical history, surgical history, previous blood transfusion, results of physical examination, results of laboratory investigations and data about the outcome of pregnancy. Results: The total number of records of pregnant women studied was 510 records. The frequency of anemia was found to be (27.45%) of the studied women. There was no statistically significant difference between the anemic group and normal group regarding socio-demographic characteristics, results of medical examination and lab investigations and the outcome of pregnancy (p >0.05). However, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups as regard history of blood transfusion (5.71% in the anemic group compared to 1.08% of the normal group) (p <0.05), proportion of women who had spacing two or more years between pregnancies (21.43% in the anemic group and 31.89% in the normal group) (p <0.05), type of previous delivery and type of contraceptive methods used before (p <0.05). Conclusion and Recommendations: The observed frequency of anemia found in this study was (27.45%). History of blood transfusion, lack of spacing between pregnancies, use of contraceptive methods other than oral contraceptive pills and intra uterine contraceptive devices and history of both vaginal delivery and CS was higher among the anemic than the normal group. To reduce frequency of anemia among pregnant women, there is a need for further analytic house hold studies for measuring the actual size of the problem, impact on pregnancy outcome and to answer the questionable epidemiological factors raised from the current study, there is also a need for more educational programs to improve public awareness of the causes of anemia during pregnancy and healthy dietary habits, strength health care seeking behavior of women to ensure early diagnosis and management of anemia.

Key words: Anemia, Pregnancy, epidemiological aspects, Saudi Arabia