Anemia and Associated Factors Among Under Five Year Old Children Who Attended Bule Hora General Hospital in West Guji zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background

Anemia is a major global public health public health problem in the early stages of childhood, particularly in developing countries. In Africa, anemia causes higher morbidity and mortality among children less than five years old, especially in Ethiopia.

Objective

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among children under five years old attending Bule Hora General Hospital, West Guji Zone, southern Ethiopia.

Methods

A hospital-based quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted at Bule Hora General Hospital, Southern Ethiopia from October to November 2020. A convenience sampling technique was used to include 375 under five children enrolled in the study. The pretested structure questionnaire was used to collect socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of study individuals after taking appropriate written informed consent. Then, a venous blood sample was collected from each child and analyzed for hemoglobin determination using a Cell-DYN 1800 machine. Binary logistic regression models were used to identify associated factors of anemia. A P value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

The overall prevalence of anemia among under five children was 13.2% (50) [95% CI=5.2–21.2%] of them anemic children, 11.1% (1) had mild anemia, and 33.3% (3) had moderate anemia and 55.6% (5) had severe anemia. In this study, anemia was significantly associated with recent intestinal protozoan infection [AOR=2.13, 95% CI=1.35–9.270], malaria infection [AOR=5.42, 95% CI=0.307–11.034] and soil-transmitted helminths infection [AOR=6.09, 95% CI=2.047–27.54].

Conclusion

Anemia among under five children in this study was found to be a mild public health problem. It could be managed by preventing malaria infection, intestinal protozoa and soil-transmitted helminthic infection.

Keywords:

• anemia
• under five
• Bule Hora
• general hospital
• West Guji

Abbreviations

CBC, complete blood count; EDTA, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid; HGB, hemoglobin; g/dL, gram per deciliter; SOPS, standard operation procedures; AOR, adjusted odds ratio; COR, crude odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; WHO, World Health Organization; EDHS, Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey; SPSS, Statistical Package for Social Science; ETB, Ethiopian Birr.

Data Sharing Statement

Data essential for the conclusion are included in this manuscript. Additional data can be obtained from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The study was conducted after ethical approval from the Bule Hora University Research and Ethical Review Committee. The official letter was written to Bule Hora General Hospital. Informed, voluntary, written signed consent was obtained from the study participant, parent/caregiver and institution. The children’s parents/caregivers were informed about the purpose of the study, and written informed consent was obtained before the questionnaire was administered based on Helsinki declaration. Then, blood samples were collected from the study participant. Participation in the study was voluntary. The participants were informed of their right to quite/refuse their participation at any stage of the study if they did not want to participate. To ensure confidentiality of participant information, codes were used, and any identifier of participants was not written on the questionnaire on the test tube. Any abnormal test results of participants were communicated to the concerned body.

Acknowledgments

First, we would like to thank Bule Hora University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Nursing for giving us the chance to undertake this research. Next, we would like to extend our thanks to Bule Hora University nursing department staff Mr. Yonas Dessie who guided and provided us with different information for enriching our research development and Bule Hora General Hospital staff for their unlimited cooperation in giving us information to develop the research. Finally, we would like to extend gratitude to our beloved family and friends for valuable patience during research development.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

We declare that we do not have any conflicts of interest related to this work or any activities pertaining to this research work.

Additional information

Funding

There was no specific funding for this study.