Anemia and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in Karamara Hospital, Jigjiga Town, Eastern Ethiopia: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Anemia occurs at all stages of human life cycle. It is more prevalent in pregnant women and young children. The burden of anemia in pregnant women remains unacceptably higher especially in the developing countries. The 2011 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey reported 22% and 46.8% anemia prevalence among pregnant women for the National and Ethiopian Somali region, respectively. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Karamara Hospital, Jigjiga, Ethiopia Somali Region. Methods: Facility based cross sectional study was conducted on 411 pregnant women coming for first ANC service and permanent residents in the study area were included while those who were seriously ill were excluded. Structured questionnaire was administered. Blood and stool samples were collected and diagnosed for hemoglobin and intestinal parasites, respectively. The data were entered into Epi Info version 3.5.1 then exported to SPSS version 16 and analyzed. The relationships between variables were examined through bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. P value of £0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Result: The age of the study participants was ranging from 15 to 45 years. Hemoglobin value ranges from 11.49g/ dl to 42.81g/dl with the median and inter quartile range of 10.60 and 3.83, respectively. Of the participants, 44.2% had mild, 26.6% moderate, 27.9% severe and 1.3% very severe anemia. Age, third trimester, drinking tea immediately after meal and consumption of iron rich foods in the previous 24 hours were significantly associated with anemia during pregnancy. Conclusion: The prevalence of anemia is high (55.8%). Age, third trimester, drinking tea after meal and organic iron rich foods consumption in the previous 24 hours are factors associated with anemia in pregnant women.