Meka Kedir, Tewodros Desalegn Nebi and Solomon Bereka*
Background: In Ethiopia, anemia prevalence among women age 15-49 increased to 24% in 2016 from 17% in 2011. Where the highest burden has been observed in Somali region, 60% of the women were anemic in 2016. This study was aimed at assessing the prevalence and associated factors of anemia among women of reproductive Agein Fafan zone, Somali regional state of Ethiopia.
Methods: The community based cross sectional study using simple random sampling was conducted in Nov 2014-Jun 2015. Interview using pretested structured questionnaire as well as measurement of hemoglobin level and nutritional characteristics were used. Binary logistic regression were used to determine associated factors of anemia.
Results: Prevalence of anemia is 65.2% (95% CI: 60.35, 69.91) out of 400 participants included in the study, where 33.2%, 28.25% and 3.75% were mildly, moderately and severely anemic respectively. Pastoral community (AOR=19.03, 95% CI: 6.59, 54.95), normal body weight (AOR=0.21, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.41) and using any kind of toilet (AOR=0.39, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.82) were significantly associated with anemia status at 5% level of significance.
Conclusion: Anemia is a major public health problem in the study area. More efforts should be applied on pastoralist in order to reduce the burden of anemia.
Published Date: 2023-05-30; Received Date: 2019-11-15
