Prevalence of anaemia and its relation to duration of pregnancy in antenatal clinic in a teaching hospital

ABSTRACT

During pregnancy there is an immense burden on mother and hemoglobin level falls progressively as the pregnancy proceeds. Anemia itself may have ill effects on the outcome of pregnancy, and its early recognition forms an important aspect of antenatal care. To determine the prevalence of anemia and its relation to duration of pregnancy amongst pregnant females presenting at Social Security Hospital. A cross sectional study was conducted at Social Security Hospital Islamabad, from May-Oct 2011. All pregnant females presenting at antenatal clinic with haemoglobin <11g/dl were included in this study. In a total of 2,300 females included in the study, the majority belonged to age group of 19-37 years with mean age of 26 years +/- 1.30 SD. Mean level of haemoglobin was found to be 9 gm/dl +/- 1.19 SD. We observed mild anaemia [Hb 10-10.9 gm/dl] in 55%, moderate anaemia [Hb 8-9.9gm/dl] in 35% and severe anaemia [Hb<8gm/dl] in 10% of our cases. In first trimester majority had mild anemia [p <0.05] and in second and third trimester majority had moderate degree of anemia [p <0.05]. High prevalence [92%] of anemia was observed in females visiting social security hospital with statistically significant relationship between 3 trimesters of pregnancy and severity of anemia