Identifying risk factors of anemia among women of reproductive age in Rwanda – a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Rwanda demographic and health survey 2014/2015

Abstract Background Anemia among Women of Reproductive Age (WRA) continues to be among the major public health problems in many developing countries, including Rwanda, where it increased in prevalence between the 2015 and 2010 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) reports. A thorough understan...

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Main Authors: Dieudonne Hakizimana, Marie Paul Nisingizwe, Jenae Logan, Rex Wong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2019-12-01
Series:BMC Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-8019-z
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spelling doaj-f2c8ca472c754349a98a90109f1035ab2020-12-13T12:03:01ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582019-12-0119111110.1186/s12889-019-8019-zIdentifying risk factors of anemia among women of reproductive age in Rwanda – a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Rwanda demographic and health survey 2014/2015Dieudonne Hakizimana0Marie Paul Nisingizwe1Jenae Logan2Rex Wong3Department of Global Health Delivery, University of Global Health EquitySchool of Population and Public Health, University of British ColumbiaDepartment of Global Health Delivery, University of Global Health EquityDepartment of Global Health Delivery, University of Global Health EquityAbstract Background Anemia among Women of Reproductive Age (WRA) continues to be among the major public health problems in many developing countries, including Rwanda, where it increased in prevalence between the 2015 and 2010 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) reports. A thorough understanding of its risk factors is necessary to design better interventions. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted in Rwanda on a nationally representative sample to assess factors associated with anemia among WRA. Accordingly, this study was conducted to address such gap. Methods A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the RDHS 2014–2015. The study population consisted of 6680 WRA who were tested for anemia during the survey. Anemia was defined as having a hemoglobin level equal to or below 10.9 g/dl for a pregnant woman, and hemoglobin level equal to or below 11.9 g/dl for a non-pregnant woman. Pearson’s chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression were conducted for bivariate and multivariable analysis, respectively. Results The prevalence of anemia among WRA was 19.2% (95% CI: 18.0–20.5). Four factors were found to be associated with lower odds of anemia, including being obese (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.40–0.91), being in the rich category (OR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.63–0.87), sleeping under a mosquito net (OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.74–0.98), and using hormonal contraceptives (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.50–0.73). Five factors were associated with higher odds of anemia, including being underweight (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.09–1.78), using an intrauterine device (OR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.05–3.75), being separated or widowed (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.09–1.67), and living in the Southern province (OR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.11–1.89) or in the Eastern province (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.06–1.88). Conclusion Anemia continues to pose public health challenges; novel public health interventions should consider geographic variations in anemia risk, seek to improve women’s economic statuses, and strengthen iron supplementation especially for Intrauterine device users. Additionally, given the association between anemia and malaria, interventions to prevent malaria should be enhanced.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-8019-zAnemiaWomen of reproductive ageMalariaPrevalenceAssociated factors
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Dieudonne Hakizimana
Marie Paul Nisingizwe
Jenae Logan
Rex Wong
spellingShingle Dieudonne Hakizimana
Marie Paul Nisingizwe
Jenae Logan
Rex Wong
Identifying risk factors of anemia among women of reproductive age in Rwanda – a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Rwanda demographic and health survey 2014/2015
BMC Public Health
Anemia
Women of reproductive age
Malaria
Prevalence
Associated factors
author_facet Dieudonne Hakizimana
Marie Paul Nisingizwe
Jenae Logan
Rex Wong
author_sort Dieudonne Hakizimana
title Identifying risk factors of anemia among women of reproductive age in Rwanda – a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Rwanda demographic and health survey 2014/2015
title_short Identifying risk factors of anemia among women of reproductive age in Rwanda – a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Rwanda demographic and health survey 2014/2015
title_full Identifying risk factors of anemia among women of reproductive age in Rwanda – a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Rwanda demographic and health survey 2014/2015
title_fullStr Identifying risk factors of anemia among women of reproductive age in Rwanda – a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Rwanda demographic and health survey 2014/2015
title_full_unstemmed Identifying risk factors of anemia among women of reproductive age in Rwanda – a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Rwanda demographic and health survey 2014/2015
title_sort identifying risk factors of anemia among women of reproductive age in rwanda – a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the rwanda demographic and health survey 2014/2015
publisher BMC
series BMC Public Health
issn 1471-2458
publishDate 2019-12-01
description Abstract Background Anemia among Women of Reproductive Age (WRA) continues to be among the major public health problems in many developing countries, including Rwanda, where it increased in prevalence between the 2015 and 2010 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) reports. A thorough understanding of its risk factors is necessary to design better interventions. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted in Rwanda on a nationally representative sample to assess factors associated with anemia among WRA. Accordingly, this study was conducted to address such gap. Methods A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the RDHS 2014–2015. The study population consisted of 6680 WRA who were tested for anemia during the survey. Anemia was defined as having a hemoglobin level equal to or below 10.9 g/dl for a pregnant woman, and hemoglobin level equal to or below 11.9 g/dl for a non-pregnant woman. Pearson’s chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression were conducted for bivariate and multivariable analysis, respectively. Results The prevalence of anemia among WRA was 19.2% (95% CI: 18.0–20.5). Four factors were found to be associated with lower odds of anemia, including being obese (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.40–0.91), being in the rich category (OR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.63–0.87), sleeping under a mosquito net (OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.74–0.98), and using hormonal contraceptives (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.50–0.73). Five factors were associated with higher odds of anemia, including being underweight (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.09–1.78), using an intrauterine device (OR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.05–3.75), being separated or widowed (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.09–1.67), and living in the Southern province (OR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.11–1.89) or in the Eastern province (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.06–1.88). Conclusion Anemia continues to pose public health challenges; novel public health interventions should consider geographic variations in anemia risk, seek to improve women’s economic statuses, and strengthen iron supplementation especially for Intrauterine device users. Additionally, given the association between anemia and malaria, interventions to prevent malaria should be enhanced.
topic Anemia
Women of reproductive age
Malaria
Prevalence
Associated factors
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-8019-z
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