A Study of Anemia Among General  Population in Field Practice Area of Rural  Health Training Centre, Nagpur, India

Dr. Manjusha A. Dhoble; Dr. Sanjeev M. Chaudh; Dr. Charuhas V. Akre

Volume : II, Issue : IV, April - 2013

A Study of Anemia Among General Population in Field Practice Area of Rural Health Training Centre, Nagpur, India

Dr. Manjusha A. Dhoble, Dr. Sanjeev M. Chaudh, Dr. Charuhas V. Akre

Abstract :

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of anemia among general population and to study the socio demographic factors associated with anemia.Material and Methods: A community based cross sectional study was carried out in field practice area of rural health training centre, Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur using a simple random sampling technique to select the households. The structured questionnaire was designed to seek the information related to education, occupation, income, socio–economic status, type of diet, physical activity and religion. Hemoglobin estimation of all the study subjects was done by Sahli�s method. On similar lines Body Mass Index (BMI) was determined for all subjects. The collected data was analyzed statistically by using percentage and association of various factors with anemia was tested by Z test for difference between two proportions. Results: Based on the analyzed data, it was found that prevalence of anemia was 90.8 %; 91.1% in females and 89.4% in males. Overall prevalence of anemia was more in women than men but the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The difference in prevalence of anemia in different age groups was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Males as well as females who were illiterate, belonging to low socio–economic status, those involved in heavy physical activity work, Buddha religion persons and having low BMI were suffering from anemia. Among all these factors, socio–economic status, physical activity and BMI showed statistically significant association with anemia. Conclusions: This study highlights the need for preventive measures for anemia in general population from all the age groups and both sexes instead of reproductive age women only.