Prevalence of Anaemia and Associated Risk Factors among Children in North-western Uganda: A Cross Sectional Study

BMC Hematology

Research Article

Peter Olupot-Olupot¹  Alex Atiku²  Ismail Dragon Legason³  John Banson Barugahare⁴  Ronald Ssenyonga⁵ 

[1] Faculty of Health Sciences, Busitema University, Mbale, Uganda;Kuluva Hospital, Arua, Uganda;School of Postgraduate Studies, Uganda Christian University, Mukono, Uganda;School of Postgraduate Studies, Uganda Christian University, Mukono, Uganda;Faculty of Science and Education, Busitema University, Tororo, Uganda;School of Public Health, Makerere College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda;

关键词: Prevalence;    Anaemia;    Risk factors;    Children;    North-western Uganda;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12878-017-0081-0

 received in 2016-08-17, accepted in 2017-06-14,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDespite the public health significance of anaemia in African children, its broader and often preventable risk factors remain largely under described. This study investigated, for the first time, the prevalence of childhood anaemia and its risk factors in an urban setting in Uganda.MethodsA total of 342 children were enrolled. Venous blood samples were collected in EDTA tubes and analyzed using Symex 500i (Symex Corp. Japan). Stool and urine samples were analyzed according to established standard methods. Anthropometric indicators were calculated according to the CDC/WHO 1978 references. Ethical approval was granted.ResultsCategorically, the prevalence of anaemia was; 37.2, 33.3 and 11.8% among children aged 1–5 years, 6–11 years and 12–14 years respectively. Overall anaemia prevalence was 34.4%. The risk of anaemia was higher among males than females [(OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 0.8, 2.1), P = .22]. Malaria was associated with a 1.5 times risk of anaemia though not statistically significant in the multivariate analysis (P = .19). Maternal parity <5 (P = .002), and stunting [(OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.3, 4.7), P = .004] were positively associated with anaemia. There was a positive correlation between household size and income (Pearson X2 = 22.96; P = .001), implying that large families were of higher socioeconomic status.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that anaemia is more prevalent in the under-5 age. The risk factors are stunting and low maternal parity. Interventions that address nutritional deficiencies in both pre-school and school children are recommended. Malaria and helminthiasis control measures counter the risk of anaemia. Further studies are required to investigate the association between maternal parity and anaemia found in this study.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017