Magnitude and associated factors of anemia among adolescent girls in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: In Ethiopia, there are primary studies on adolescent anemia with imprecise and inconclusive findings. Besides, there was no meta-analysis pooled the magnitude and associated factors of anemia among adolescent girls in Ethiopia. Estimating the pooled magnitude and associated factors of anemia among adolescent girls is helpful for evidence-based interventions in Ethiopia. METHODS: The authors used a preferred reporting item for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA). We included articles and survey reports published until May 2021 using searching engines of Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. To assess the quality of studies, we used Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale for non-randomized. Two authors independently assessed the quality of the studies. We computed the pool magnitude and odds ratio of the associated factors with their 95%CI using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Publication bias assessed using funnel plots and Egger's test. RESULT: In this review, we included a total of 15 studies with 9,669 adolescent girls. Using the random-effects model, the pooled magnitude of anemia among the Ethiopian adolescent girls was 19.1% (95%CI: 16.1%, 24.6%). The associated factors were attained menarche (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.96), ≥ 5 days of blood flow during menses (AOR = 6.21), food insecurity (AOR = 1.48), inadequate diet diversity score (AOR = 2.81), presence of intestinal parasite (AOR = 3.51), low body mass index (AOR = 2.49), and rural residence (AOR = 1.79). CONCLUSION: The pooled magnitude of anemia among adolescent girls in Ethiopia was 19.1% depicting a mild public health problem; while attained menarche, ≥ 5 days' blood flow during menses, food insecurity, inadequate diet diversity score, intestinal parasites, low body mass index, and rural residence were the associated factors. Hence, addressing health and nutrition wellness of adolescent girls should be center of concern in health, nutrition, agriculture, research, strategies and policies in Ethiopia.

Risk factors of stunting (chronic undernutrition) of children aged 6 to 24 months in Mekelle City, Tigray Region, North Ethiopia: An unmatched case-control study.

INTRODUCTION: In 2014, 159 million under 5 year-old children were stunted (suffered chronic undernutrition) worldwide. Identifying risk factors for stunting among 6 to 24 month-age children in Mekelle City is important for evidence-based interventions. METHOD: Case-Control study design was undertaken in 330 children, from January to February 2016. World Health Organization (WHO) anthropometric software and statistical package for social sciences version 20 were used for analysis. Logistic regression analysis was applied. RESULT: The following were identified as risk factors for stunting: mother's lack of formal education (adjusted odds ratio (AOR = 6.4)), mother height less than 150cm (AOR = 4.2), mother with a body mass index less than 18.5 kg/m2 (AOR = 3.8), childbirth weight less than 2.5kg (AOR = 5.3), household with two and above under-five children (AOR = 2.9), a WHO diet diversity score < 4 (AOR = 3.2) and repeated diarrheal episodes (AOR = 5.3). CONCLUSION: The factors associated with stunting among children aged 6 to 24 months are no formal education in mother, mother height less than 150cm, low BMI of the mother, low birth weight, low WHO DDS, number of under 5 children in the household and repeated diarrheal episodes. Nutritional interventions should give emphasis to maternal education, maternal nutrition, childbirth weight, family size, diet diversity, and diarrheal diseases.

Risk factors of anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care in health facilities of Eastern Zone of Tigray, Ethiopia, case-control study, 2017/18.

INTRODUCTION: Worldwide the average prevalence of anemia among pregnant women is 38.2% and in Ethiopia, the average prevalence of anemia among pregnant women is 22%. The aim of this research was to identify risk factors of anemia among pregnant women in Eastern Zone of Tigray, Ethiopia. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted among 600 (150 cases and 450 controls) pregnant women in 2017/18. Pregnant women with a hemoglobin level below 11 g/dl were cases (anemic) and those with hemoglobin >11 g/dl were controls (non-anemic). Data were collected using structured questionnaire and SPSS version 20 was used for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify the risk factors for anemia among pregnant women. P-value <0.05 and adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval were used to assess the association. RESULTS: Intestinal parasites (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=3.4; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.2, 17.9), farmer occupation (AOR=3, 95% CI: 1.4, 10.8), unprotected sources of drinking water (AOR=3; 95% CI: 1.7, 16.9), drinking coffee/tea with or immediately after meal daily (AOR=1.9; 95%CI: 1.04, 8.7) and diet diversity score (DDS) of less than 3 (AOR=3; 95% CI: 1.5, 5.5) were statistically significant for anemia among pregnant women. CONCLUSION: In this study, the risk factors for anemia among pregnant women were intestinal parasites, mother farmer occupation, unprotected source of drinking water, drinking coffee or tea with a meal or immediately after meal and low diet diversification score. Therefore, nutritional intervention should consider the above-identified risk factors.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Perinatal Asphyxia among Neonates in General Hospitals of Tigray, Ethiopia, 2018.

Perinatal asphyxia is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in neonates. Perinatal asphyxia occurs in association with maternal, fetal, and maternofetal factors. However, the magnitude and associated factors of perinatal asphyxia are not well studied in Tigray, Ethiopia. Therefore, our study is conducted to determine the prevalence and factors associated with perinatal asphyxia among neonates in general hospitals of Tigray. An observational hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in randomly selected general hospitals. A semistructured questionnaire was used to collect data from 421 randomly selected neonates with their mothers and medical records. The data was entered into epidata version 3.5 and exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 for analysis. Finally, the presence of an association between a dependent variable and an independent variables has been declared at P-value ≤0.05, or adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 95% confidence interval (CI). Accordingly, the result of this study showed that the prevalence of perinatal asphyxia among the selected general hospitals was 22.1%. Neonates born with cesarean section are seven times more likely to have perinatal asphyxia than those who are born spontaneously through the vagina (AOR, 6.97; CI (2.87-16.93)). In addition, neonates who are born meconium stained are 8.55 times more likely to have perinatal asphyxia than those who had not stained with meconium (AOR, 8.55; CI (4.20-17.39)). Neonates who are weighed less than 2.5 kg are 12.75 times more likely to have perinatal asphyxia than those who are weighed 2.5-4 kg (AOR, 12.75; CI (4.05-40.08)). Prolonged duration of labour was also associated statistically with perinatal asphyxia (AOR, 3.33, CI (1.32-8.38)). In conclusion, the magnitude of perinatal asphyxia in general hospitals of Tigray remains high. Low birth weight, meconium-stained amniotic fluid, cesarean section, and prolonged maternal labour have been associated with perinatal asphyxia.