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Anaemia among non-pregnant women in rural Bangladesh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

SM Ziauddin Hyder ,
Lars-Åke Persson ,
AMR Chowdhury  and
Eva-Charlotte Ekström
SM Ziauddin Hyder*
Affiliation:
BRAC, 75 Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh Epidemiology Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå S-90185, Sweden
Lars-Åke Persson
Affiliation:
Epidemiology Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå S-90185, Sweden Public Health Sciences Division, ICDDR, B, Centre for Health and Population Research, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
AMR Chowdhury
Affiliation:
BRAC, 75 Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Eva-Charlotte Ekström
Affiliation:
Epidemiology Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå S-90185, Sweden Clinical Sciences Division, ICDDR, B, Centre for Health and Population Research, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
*
*Corresponding author: Email smzia@bangla.net
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Abstract

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Objective:

To estimate the prevalence and severity of anaemia among non-pregnant women in rural Bangladesh and describe its social distribution.

Design:

A cross-sectional study conducted in February–March 1996. Haemoglobin concentration was measured on a capillary blood sample by cyanmethaemoglobin method. The World Health Organization (WHO) classification was used to define anaemia.

Setting:

Twelve randomly selected villages in Fulbaria thana of Mymensingh district, about 110 km northwest of Dhaka city in Bangladesh.

Subjects:

A systematically selected sample of 179 non-pregnant apparently healthy women aged 15–45 years.

Results:

Anaemia was highly prevalent (73%; 95%CI 67–79%). Most of the women had mild (52%) or moderate (20%) anaemia, but a few of them suffered from severe anaemia (1%). Ascaris was common (39%) while hookworm was not (1%). The anaemia prevalence had no statistically significant association with age, parity or Ascaris infestation (P>0.05). Women with less than 1 year of schooling, who were landless or who reported having an economic deficit in the household had significantly higher prevalence of anaemia (P<0.05). There was a significantly increasing trend in anaemia prevalence with decreasing socioeconomic situation (SES). However anaemia was common in all social strata.

Conclusions:

Although the overall anaemia prevalence among non-pregnant rural women is high, only a few women suffer from severe anaemia. Women of all SES groups irrespective of their age and parity are affected by anaemia.

Keywords

AnaemiaSevere anaemiaNon-pregnant womenSocioeconomicRuralBangladesh
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , February 2001 , pp. 79 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2001

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