Anaemia Among Children Who Attended the Children’s Teaching Hospital in Karbala, Iraq

Abstract

Introduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a moderate incidence of anaemia among pregnant and nonpregnant women and among children younger than 59 months in 2011.

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate anaemia among children younger than 14 years submitted to haematological exams at the Children’s Teaching Hospital in Karbala, Iraq.

Patients and Methods

This was a cross-sectional study carried out in the Children’s Teaching Hospital Laboratory Department in Karbala, Iraq, from 1 July 2019 until 1 September 2019.

Results

The prevalence of anaemia among children aged 0–14 years in Karbala was 9.9%. There was no significant relationship between the type of anaemia diagnosed and age or sex. However, there was a significantly positive relationship between the type of anaemia diagnosed and each ferritin level, mean corpuscular volume, and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (p<0.0001). The study participant skull diameter and length in relation to sex were compared to the WHO reference values for child growth standards, and the study values were less than the normal range for children below 5 years of age.

Conclusion

A high prevalence of anaemia among children was reported with its apparent consequence on their health. This study highlights the prevalence of anaemia among children up to 14 years of age in Karbala, and future research is encouraged.

Keywords:

• anaemia
• children with anaemia
• prevalence
• thalassemia

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Rusul Abdulkareem and Rusul Mohammad for their outstanding efforts as well as Dr. Mohammad Al Mousawy for his support and assistance with his valuable and profound comments.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Al-Zahrawi University College (ZUC Approval at 01-09-2019). All parents or legal guardians of the children provided informed consent before participating in the study.

Disclosure

The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.