Anemia among Pregnant Women Attending Ante Natal Care Clinic in Adare General Hospital, Southern Ethiopia: Prevalence and Associated Factors

Background: Anemia is a global public health problem affecting both developing and developed countries. It is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in pregnant women and children. Nevertheless, information regarding the prevalence of anemia and associated factors among pregnant in the study area is limited. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence of anemia and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic in Adare General Hospital, Southern Ethiopia. Method: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 1, 2020, to December 15, 2020, among 340 pregnant women aged 15 to 49 years who came for focused antenatal care follow-up. Trained data collectors administered questionnaires, and collected capillary blood and stool samples. Data were coded and entered into EPI Info 7 and the analysis was done using SPSS version 20.0. Factors associated with anemia were assessed using binary logistic regression. Those variables that had a P -value less than .25 on bi-variable regression analysis were considered for multi-variable regression analysis. Statistical significance was declared with P < .05. Result: The prevalence of anemia among pregnant women was 24.1% (95% CI: 19.55%-28.69%). The majority of anemia cases were mildly anemic (62.2.0%). Increased odds of anemia was found among pregnant women with household monthly income ⩽2550 Ethiopian Birr (⩽69.67 United States Dollar) (AOR = 2.08; 95% CI: 1.15, 3.76), not attended formal education (AOR = 3.86; 95% CI: 1.42, 10.54), not using iron tablets (AOR = 2.64; 95% CI: 1.33, 5.27) and infected with Plasmodium vivax (AOR = 7.58; 95% CI: 3.11, 18.47). Conclusions: Anemia had moderate public health significance in the study. Low monthly family income, educational status, iron tablet consumption during pregnancy and Plasmodium vivax infection were found to be independent predictors for anemia in pregnancy. The burden of anemia should be alleviated through enhancing maternal socio-economic status, prevention of illnesses targeting pregnant women, and strengthening the expansion of prenatal iron-folate supplementation