Abstract:
This a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study, aimed to
investigate status of Iron deficiency anemia among Sudanese
pregnant women. The study was carried out during the period
(29 March 2012-10 May 2012) at Khartoum Teaching Hospital.
The study included 100 Sudanese females; 80 were pregnant
women (aged 16 to 42 years) and 20 were healthy non pregnant
women (as control). The 80 pregnant women, who were
apparently in good health, are informed about the study and
their consent for participation was obtained. Study population
was divided in to 3 groups according to the trimesters (first,
second and third trimester).
Venous blood sample of 5 ml was collected from each subject.
Automated hematological analyzer (Sysmex KX21N) was used
for CBC and automated biochemical analyzer (Selectra XL) was
used for serum iron and serum ferritin assessment.
The results were analyzed by Statistical Package for Social
Science (SPSS version 11.5) and the means of TWBCs count,
RBCs count, Hb level, HCT%, Red cell indices (MCV, MCH, MCHC), PLT
count, serum iron and serum ferritin level were 7.8 ×103/μl, 4.2
×106/μl, 11.5 g/dl, 35.1%, 81.6 fl, 27.3 pg, 33.1 g/dl, 243×103/μl, 94
μg/dl and 35.6 μg/l respectively.
The frequency of antenatal care follow up among study
population was 77.5%. Seventy three percent of pregnant
women among the study population were Multigravidae. Sixty
nine percent of women reported that they were taking iron
supplements regularly during pregnancy. The third trimester of
study population was more frequent (58.8%), followed by
second trimester (21.3%) and first trimester (20%).
The study revealed that there was statistically significant
difference in the means of TWBCs count, RBCs count, Hb level,
HCT%, MCV, MCH and serum ferritin level among study group
when compared with control group ( P<0.05). In addition, there
was statistically significant decrease in the mean of RBCs count
and serum ferritin level in the second trimester (P<0.05) and
significant decrease in the mean of PLT count in the third
trimester (P<0.05).
There was statistically significant decrease in the mean of
serum ferritin level among pregnant women who were not
taking iron supplements (P=0.005). Also, there was statistically
significant decrease in the mean of Hb level and serum ferritin
level among pregnant women who were not followed up
(P<0.05).
The prevalence of anemia (Hb <11.0 g/dl) was 33.8% among the study
group, the majority (85.2%) of these anemic patients were mildly anemic,
whereas (11.1%) were moderately anemic. There was only one case of severe
anemia (3.7%). Most of those anemic pregnant women (74%) were
found to have IDA, while (25.9%) had other types of anaemia. IDA had been
found in high percentage in the third trimester (50%). This high
prevalence of IDA among pregnant women may be due to
.malnutrition and lack of iron medications during pregnancy
