अमूर्त

Assessing the prevalence and risk factors of anemia in women of reproductive age attending primary health care in Afghanistan’s Provinces of Kabul, Nangarhar, and Herat

Mamosai Zewar and Sourabh Chakraborty

Background: Anemia is one of the most significant consequences of dietary deficiencies in the world. Over 25% of the global population is afflicted. In the world, anemia affects 41.84% of pregnant women and nearly 30.2% of non-pregnant women. Anemia causes can be broadly classified into three major groups: nutritional deficiencies, infectious diseases, and genetic hemoglobin disorders. The most common cause of anemia in developing countries is nutritional anemia. The paper describes factors associated with anemia in reproductive-age women at Kabul, Herat, and Ningrahar primary health care centers, where many patients come from Paghman, Zendajan, and Sangar Sary districts. A low-income slum in Afghanistan. Objective: The objective was to identify how prevalent anemia is and what risk factors contribute to it. Method: a cross-sectional quantitative study among 385 Women of Reproductive Age (WRA) based face to face interviews. Result: The mean Hb level was 52.1% (95% CI:50.7-53.4). In multivariate analysis, anemia was significantly associated with age group, family income, nutritional habits, drinking tea with food, use of iron tablets, irregular menstruation, birth spacing, and history of anemia. Conclusion: Policymakers must develop appropriate practical and context-based policies and initiatives to better address anemia in women during their reproductive years.