Determinants of Anemia among Pregnant Women at Debre Tabor Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital

Background: Anemia is one of the most occurring nutritional deficiency problems in the world especially in Africa. It can be prevalent in women of reproductive age, particularly during pregnancy when it is often a contributory cause of maternal mortality. In our country Ethiopia, anemia prevalence is increased from 2011 to 2016 in all anemia categories. Even though scarce information is known about the problem in Ethiopia and studies related to the problem are not available at Debre Tabor comprehensive and specialized hospitals. Hence, we aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with anemia among pregnant women who are attending antenatal care at Debre Tabor Comprehensive and specialized hospitals. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 15 to November 15, 2020, with a sample size of 232 pregnant women participants selected using a systematic random sampling method. Laboratory determination of hemoglobin level was done at Anti-natal care follow-up. The data was entered into Epi info Version 7.2 and exported to SPSSS version 23 for analysis. Descriptive statistics using frequency and other summary statistics were used to present the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of women. Binary and multivariable logistic regression was done to identify factors associated with anemia using an odds ratio at 95% CI and p-value < 0.05 significance level. Result: The magnitude of anemia showed that 12.9% with 95% CI (9.4% - 17.7%). The mean age of the participants was 33 years with a range of 18 - 39 years. Rural residency (AOR: 2.82; 95% CI: 1.02 - 4.87, p-0.001), multi-parity were (AOR: 3.12; 95% CI: 2.43 - 7.56, p-0.045), previous malaria attack (AOR: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.04 - 4.88, p-0.023), and having history of abortion (AOR: 2.10; 95% CI: 1.18 - 6.79, p-0.014) were factors associated to anemia in pregnancy. Conclusion: This study found a relatively high magnitude of anemia among pregnant women. Rural residency, multi-parity, previous malaria attack, and having a history of abortion were found to be independent predictors of anemia in pregnancy.