International Journal of Probability and Statistics 2014, 3(2): 30-34
DOI: 10.5923/j.ijps.20140302.02
Treatise on Anaemia in Pregnancy in Women of
Reproductive Age in the Bolgatanga Municipality, Upper
East Region, Ghana
Suleman Nasiru
*
, Luguterah Albert
Department of Statistics, Faculty of Mathematical Sciences, University for Development Studies, P. O. Box 24, Navrongo,
Ghana, West Africa
Abstract This study investigated the prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy and the determinants of haemoglobin levels and
anaemic status among pregnant women. The results showed that 50.4% of the subjects were anaemic. The GLM and the
binary logistic regression results revealed that Blood pressure, Gestational Age and BMI are useful in determining the
haemoglobin level and the anaemic status respectively. The binary logistic regression revealed that a subject with normal
blood pressure is 64.4% less likely to be anemic compared to a subject with abnormal blood pressure. Also, for a unit change
in BMI a subject is 7.3% less likely to be anaemic while for a unit change in gestational age a subject is 6.5% more likely to
be anaemic. The results revealed that as the Gestational age increases the probability of a subject becoming anaemic increases.
It is therefore recommended that medical experts should advise pregnant women to take in foods and or supplements that will
increase their Haemoglobin level as the Gestational age increases.
Keywords Anaemia in pregnancy, Bolgatanga, Haemoglobin level, GLM, Logistic regression
1. Introduction
Anaemia in pregnancy is one of the detrimental diseases
that have usurped the minds of Public Health Workers
globally. It is one of the major causes of high maternal
mortality and morbidity, neonatal mortality and high
percentage of low birth-weight worldwide [5, 3]. According
to [14], anaemia is a result of having haemoglobin levels of
less than 11g/dl and affects nearly half of all pregnant
women in the world: 52% in developing countries and 23%
in the developed countries.
In Ghana, the prevalence of anaemia among pregnant
women increased from 65% to 70% between 2003 and 2008.
Anaemia in pregnancy is one of the major causes of the
unacceptable high maternal mortality ratio of 451 per 100,
000 live births in the country. It is responsible for 20% of the
maternal deaths in the country [6].
In order to address this canker, the determination of
factors that contributes to anaemia in pregnancy in a
population is imperative for the implementation of control
measures. Various risk factors including inadequate nutrition,
infection, age, sickle cell status and poor health status among
others are found to be associated with the prevalence of
* Corresponding author:
sulemanstat@gmail.com (Suleman Nasiru)
Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/ijps
Copyright © 2014 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved
anaemia [8, 9, 11]. This study therefore investigated the
factors associated with anaemia in pregnancy among women
within the reproductive age group (15-49 years) in the
Bolgatanga municipality of the Upper East Region of Ghana.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
The study was carried out in the Bolgatanga municipality.
The Bolgatanga municipality is the regional capital of the
Upper East region of Ghana with a total population of 66,685
(2010 census).
2.2. Data and Source
The study employed secondary data, obtained from the
2012/2013 registers of the antenatal clinic of the Upper
East Regional Hospital in the Bolgatanga municipality,
where routine records of all pregnant women (subjects) who
report at the facility for maternal care services are taken. The
study made use of variables such as Maternal age group,
Parity, Gravidity, Blood Pressure (normal or abnormal),
Gestational age ( in weeks), Haemoglobin level, Sickle cell
status (positive or negative) and Season of the year (dry or
wet). The study consisted of 617 pregnant women within the
reproductive age group (15-49 years).
2.3. Generalized Linear Model (GLM)