ABSTRACT
Globally, anaemia affects 1.62 billion people, which corresponds to 24.8% of the population. Anaemia in India is recognized as a severe public health problem based on the population-specific Hb threshold value ≥40%. Data from NFHS 2, 3, and 4, indicated that about 50 percent of pregnant women in India were anaemic and among the South Asian countries, India has the highest prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy. The present analysis of NFHS 4 survey data is undertaken to understand the anaemia prevalence pattern in India and important factors contributing to it.METHODSThe present analysis has been carried out by using NFHS 4 survey datasets conducted during the year 2015-16 among 32,428 women aged 15 - 49 years who were pregnant during or within 5 years before survey. The data analysis was performed in SPSS version 22.RESULTSThe mean age of pregnant women was 24.7 years ± 4.874. Majority (72.7 percent) of women was in the age group 20-29 years; the average age at 1st birth was 20.9 ± 3.383 years. 1.4 percent of pregnant women were severely anaemic, 24.5 percent moderately, 23.7 percent mildly anaemic and remaining 50.4 percent were without anaemia. The mean haemoglobin level among the pregnant women is 10.9 g/dL. Interstate variation was observed in anaemia prevalence.CONCLUSIONSThe present observation will add to our knowledge and helps in designing interventions addressing the different dimensions of anaemia prevalence.
ABSTRACT
Background: India, which accounts for world's 17.5 percent population, is the second most populous country in the world next only to China (19.4%). The major objective of the NFHS surveys has been to strengthen India’s demographic and health database, to anticipate and meet the country’s needs for data on emerging health and family welfare issues. The objectives of the study were to study the different background characteristics of women adopting different family planning methods and to analyze the associated socio-demographic factors..Methods: Secondary data analysis of NFHS 4 datasets obtained from DHS program portal. Appropriate statistical testing of associated socio-demographic variables done and interpreted accordingly.Results: Out of total 63696 couples, 99.2% women and 98.6% men knew modern method of contraception, 48.6% were currently using modern method of contraception and 7.4% traditional method. The majority (34%) women adopted female sterilization as current method of contraception. There is interstate variation in the contraceptive prevalence rate highest (80.60%) in Chandigarh compared to least (26.64%) in Goa. There is significant association observed between place of residence, religion, wealth index, women education, education of husband towards current contraceptive use.Conclusions: About 45% of population increase is contributed by births above two children per family. The adoption of appropriate method of contraception by couples made available through quality family planning services and empowering women by proper behavior change communication will help improve the present contraceptive prevalence rate especially among the vulnerable groups.