Prevalence of Anemia in Pregnant Women under Antenatal Care at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Port-Harcourt, Nigeria and Association to Knowledge and Attitude on Anemia and Its Prevention

Background: Anemia in pregnancy is an important public health problem worldwide. Despite the efforts of government and health bodies, maternal anemia continues to be a common cause of morbidity and mortality. This suggests that other factors contribute to the high prevalence of anemia in pregnancy despite the intervention efforts.

Objective: This study sought to determine the prevalence and anemic status of pregnant women at booking, to assess their knowledge of anemia and attitude to anemia prevention measures. And to determine associated risk factors for anemia and if there is a correlation between anemic status and level of knowledge/attitude to anemia prevention

Methodology: An institutional-based, cross-sectional study was carried out. 322 consenting participants between 18-48 years were interviewed at booking using a structured questionnaire. Information on socio-demographic characteristics; their knowledge on causes, symptoms, prevention, and complications of anemia in pregnancy; and information on attitude towards anemia prevention strategies were collected. The PCV and HIV results of the women were retrieved. Data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed with SPSS version 20. Associations between different variables were determined using Fisher's exact test or Chi-square test, as appropriate, and logistic regression was used to test statistical significance at P<0.05.

Results: Their mean age±SD was 31.65±4.72 years and the median parity was 1.Of the 322 women, 194(60.2%) were anemic, with 186(57.8%) having mild anemia. There was no significant association between anemia and age, marital status, education, employment, parity, pregnancy interval and socio-economic status, but there was a significant association between gestational age and HIV status, with only gestational age remaining significant after logistic regression. The relationship between anemia and knowledge and attitude was not significant, but the higher educational status was significantly related to knowledge of anemia and its prevention.

Conclusion: The prevalence of anemia in this study was high. Despite good knowledge and attitude to anemia prevention, late booking for ANC caused a significant association with the occurrence of anemia. Efforts are needed to encourage early booking and early commencement of iron and folic acid supplements.