International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health | 2016 | Vol 5 | Issue 03 454 Access this article online Website: http://www.ijmsph.com Quick Response Code: DOI: 10.5455/ijmsph.2016.2307201575 Research Article Prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in rural population of Kolar district Ravishankar Suryanarayana 1 , Anil Navale Santhuram 2 , Muninarayana Chandrappa 2 , Prathima Shivajirao 3 , Sheela Shikaripur Rangappa 4 1 Department of Statistics, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka, India. 2 Department of Community Medicine, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka, India. 3 Department of Pathology, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka, India. 4 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka, India. Correspondence to: Anil NS, E-mail: anilpsm@gmail.com Received July 23, 2015. Accepted August 7, 2015 Background: Anemia is the most common hematological disorder during pregnancy. According to the reports of World Health Organization reports, from 35% to 75% (56% on average) of the pregnant women in developing countries are ane- mic. Prevalence of anemia in South Asian countries is among the highest in the world. India has the highest prevalence of anemia (87%). Objective: To determine the prevalence of anemia and factors infuencing its causation among pregnant women. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 446 pregnant women from July 2013 to June 2014 in the rural population of Kolar district, Karnataka, India. The study participants were selected by using multistage sampling method. The hemoglobin estimation was done by using HemoCue method, and data were collected in a pretested questionnaire. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 22. The χ 2 -test and correlation coeffcient was used to test the degree of signifcance. Result: A high prevalence (64%) of anemia was observed among pregnant women. The mean hemoglobin level was found to be 10.3 ± 1.53 g%, ranging from 5 to 15 g%. Anemia was predominantly observed among below poverty line families (59.4%) compared with above poverty line families (5.4%). The prevalence of anemia increased with increase in gestational age and gravida and decreased with increase in birth interval. Conclusion: High prevalence of anemia among pregnant women indicates anemia to be a major public health problem in the rural community. Factors such as socioeconomic status, birth interval, and gravida contribute to this high prevalence. KEY WORDS: Anemia, prevalence, hemoglobin level, gestational age, gravida Abstract International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health Online 2016. © 2016 Anil NS. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license. prevalence of anemia (87%). According to the reports of World Health Organization, in developing countries, 35% to 75% (56% on average) of pregnant women and, in industri- alized countries, 18% of women are anemic. National Family and Health Survey (NFHS)-3 reported that 56.4% of pregnant women in rural Maharashtra were anemic. Several Indian studies from various regions have shown the prevalence of anemia to be between 33% and 100%. Nonetheless, the data of prevalence of anemia among pregnant women from remote areas are at scant. [1–7] Anemia is known to be associated with multiple factors, such as poor socioeconomic status, high parity, short birth inter- val, poor diet both in quantity and quality, lack of health and nutrition awareness, and a high rate of infectious diseases Introduction Anemia is the most common hematological disorder dur- ing pregnancy. Prevalence of anemia in South Asian countries is among the highest in the world, and India has the highest