Prevalence of Anemia amongst Pregnant Patients presenting in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

Author(s) : Sadaf Shaheen, Hira Rauf, Humaira Akram, Afroza Abbas & Zobia Ashiq

Abstract:

Objective:
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of anaemia in pregnant patients attending antenatal outpatient department (OPD) and to assess the cause and severity of anaemia.
Material and Methods:
Study design: Non-probability convenience sampling technique. Place and Duration of study: Antenatal outpatient department (OPD) Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Moula Bakhsh Hospital, District Head Quarters Teaching Hospital Sargodha from February 2017 to February 2018. Haemoglobin concentration of all the study patients was measured photometrically. Then, the patients have been classified according to the types of anaemia, its prevalence in pregnancy and the socioeconomic status of patients.
Results:
75.2% of pregnant women were found anaemic. Anaemia was more common in patients with increasing parity, low socioeconomic status, and in patients who presented late in their pregnancy. Amongst anaemic patients, iron deficient anamia was found in 73% of the patients.
Conclusion:
Anaemia is highly prevalent in our population so effective measures must be envisaged to diagnose and prevent it early in pregnancy.

Key Words: Anaemia, hemoglobin, pregnancy