Determinants Of Anaemia Among Ghanaian Women, 2008

ABSTRACT

Reports that emanated from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey indicated that anaemia among women in the country stood at 59 per cent, making it a severe public health problem based on the classification of the World Health Organisation. Majority of studies on the aetiology and determinants of anaemia among Ghanaian women were community based and did not permit an understanding of the problem among women of different socio-demographic groups residing in the larger spatial units of the country. This study sought to fill this research gap and to more importantly identify risk factors that predisposed women to the disease.

Data for the study were collected as part of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey which was conducted in 2008. This survey is based on a nationally representative sample and has been conducted on a five year interval since 1988. In half of the households where interviews were conducted, consenting women of reproductive age were tested for anaemia using the HemoCue system. In all, 4758 women of reproductive age were screened for anaemia.

Results from the univariate analysis showed that 41.2 per cent of Ghanaian women did not have anaemia. For those who tested positive for anaemia, it was observed that 38.8 per cent, 18 per cent and 2 per cent were mildly, moderately and severely anaemic respectively. Anaemia levels varied among women of different social and demographic statuses. Proportion of women who did not have anaemia was significantly lower among urbanites than rural dwellers. With respect to education, a preponderance of the subjects with no anaemia had higher education. No anaemia was however below 50 per cent in the other educational attainments, reaching as low as 36.4 per cent for women with primary education.

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Results from the multinomial logistic regression indicated that place of residence, source of water for drinking and type of toilet facility were not risk factors for anaemia. The results further showed that women with higher education were significantly less likely than women with no education to have moderate and mild anaemia. Non-pregnant women were also significantly less likely to have severe and moderate anaemia compared to pregnant women. Similarly, women who slept under insecticide treated bed nets a day before the survey were also significantly less likely to have severe anaemia compared to those who did not.

Other studies on anaemia that focused on children under age 5 and used data from the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey also reported a prevalence of 78 per cent. Implementation of a National Anaemia Prevention and Control Programme was thus recommended to reduce prevalence as well as anaemia related mortality. Other recommendations based on the identified risk factors included increasing intake of intestinal parasite drugs in pregnant women along with encouraging intermittent iron supplementation in women of reproductive age.