Anemia prevalence and associated factors among school-children of Kersa Woreda in eastern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

• Published in: PloS one 2023-03, Vol.18 (3), p.e0283421-e0283421
• Main Authors: Gemechu, Kabtamu, Asmerom, Haftu, Gedefaw, Lealem, Arkew, Mesay, Bete, Tilahun, Adissu, Wondimagegn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Anemia; Biology and Life Sciences; Bivariate analysis; Blood; Child; Children; Cognitive ability; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Developing countries; Diagnosis; Diet; Diseases; Distribution; Elementary schools; Ethiopia - epidemiology; Family size; Female; Guardians; Hemoglobin; Hemoglobins; Humans; Infections; Intestinal parasites; Intestine; Iron; Laboratories; LDCs; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Morphology; Parasites; People and Places; Population; Prevalence; Public health; Quality control; Questionnaires; Sample size; Sampling techniques; Schools; Social Sciences; Sociodemographics; Stains & staining; Statistical analysis; Students; Variables
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283421

Anemia in school children is a worldwide public health problem, affecting about a quarter of this population. It also remains a significant problem in developing countries, with multifactorial causes. Anemia in school children has adverse effects on the development of the physical, cognitive, immunity of affected children, and subsequently their educational achievement which may lead to loss of productivity at a later age in life. Regular surveillance that could provide evidence-based local data is required to intervene in the problems. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of anemia among school children in primary schools of eastern Ethiopia. School-based cross-sectional study was conducted by recruiting 482 school- children. Data on socio-demographic and dietary habits were collected from parents/legal guardians. Capillary blood for blood film preparation and hemoglobin measurement and stool sample for the diagnosis of intestinal parasites infection was collected. Hemoglobin concentration was measured using a hemoglobinometer HemoCue® 301+, and stool examination by direct wet mount and concentration technique. Data were entered into epi-data and exported into SPSS for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was run to identify associated factors. Association was described using adjusted OR (AOR) along with 95% CI and variables with a p-value