Assessment of the Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Pregnant Women referring to Ghaem Hospital

Iron deficiency anemia is defined as hemoglobin < 11g/dl in the first and third trimesters، and < 10. 5 g/dl in the second trimester of pregnancy. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common cause of anemia during pregnancy and leads to important complications such as low birth weight، preterm birth and so on during pregnancy. This study was performed with aim to determine the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women and evaluation of its relationship with some variables.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 600 pregnant women referred to morning Clinic of Ghaem Hospital in 2010. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire in which required information including gestational age، gravidity and parity، number of abortions، educational level and household income were recorded. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software (version 16).

In this study، the prevalence of anemia was 11. 2% in the subjects. There was significant relationship between age of pregnant women and anemia (P≤0. 001)، anemia and age during the first pregnancy (P=0. 001) and anemia and the time interval between the current and the previous pregnancies (P=0. 001). In addition، there was a significant relation between the prevalence of anemia and gestational age (P=0. 0005)، parity (P≥0. 005)، gravidity (P=0. 001)، educational level (p≥0. 0001) and income (p≥0. 0001).

Increased parity and gravidity leads to an increase in the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia. Regarding the fact that iron deficiency anemia is a preventable complication، specific attention to prevention programs pregnant women and empowering health care policies during pregnancy can be one of the most important priorities in the country.