Community Medicine Abstracts - College of Medicine and Health ...

Project No. 159 (B-1999/0)The Prevalence, Correlates and Outcome of Anaemia among Pregnant Womenin Al-Ain and Tawam HospitalsStudent Authors: Amna Jassim, Laila Darwis, Salma Salem, Sumaya AhmedFaculty Supervisors: Dr. M.M. Hossain, Dr. A. BenerAbstract:Aim To study The prevalence, correlates and outcome of anaemia among pregnantwomen in Al-Ain and Tawam Hospitals.Methods This study was conducted in Al Ain and Tawam hospitals and in the postnatalward in Al Ain hospital. Design was cross-sectional of two components: abstract formand an interviewer administered questionnaire. 588 medical records have beenreviewed in both hospitals, and 52 were interviewed in Al Ain hospital.Results The prevalence of anaemia in studied pregnant women in third trimester was49.2% in which microcytic anaemia forms a high proportion (5%). The Arab Gulf hadthe highest prevalence of anaemia (59.4%), followed by the UAE nationals (52.1%).It has also been found that anaemia is more common in women with the followingfeatures: women with age more than 30 years old (50.5%), with low educational level(65%), have family income of 5500 Dhs or less (61.9%), have BMI of 27 or less in thefirst and second trimester respectively (27.3%, 35.6%), have a number of 8pregnancies or more (56.9%), with late bookings (85.7%), and with low frequencyiron intake (63.3%). In addition, we have found that the percentage of anaemiamothers who had preterm infants was 53.8 whereas 47.1% had low birth weightinfants.Conclusion Anaemia in pregnancy deserves more attention than it is currentlyreceiving, and it is the time to re-examine the problem, to assess the local etiologicalfactors, and then to design appropriate strategies for prevention and treatment.