Status of Iron Deficiency Anemia among Sudanese Pregnant Women Referred to Khartoum Teaching Hospital

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