Frequency of betel nut addiction in pregnant anaemic women and its impact on fetal outcome

Objective: to determine the frequency of betel nut addiction in pregnant anaemic women and to find out its association with adverse pregnancy outcome. methodology: this observational study was conducted in the department of obstetrics & gynaecology unit 2 at liaquat university of medical & health sciences jamshoro from january to june 2015. all the pregnant women admitted in ward or labour room for delivery with hb% < 11gm/dl during the study period were included. those having history of antepartum haemorrhage,preeclampsia,eclampsia,chorioamnionitis or any medical disorder except anaemia were excluded. the frequency of betel nut consumption was calculated. the frequency of addiction in different age groups,parity and population (rural/urban) was determined. the association of addiction with severity of anaemia and adverse fetal outcome (perinatal deaths,low birth weight infants,preterm deliveries) was also determined. results: a total of 1700 women were included. out of these,1120 women (65.88%) were found having history of betel nut consumption. the frequency of addiction was highest in the age group of 25-35 (69.83%),para 2-5 (68.17%) and in women belonged from rural area (77.49%). history of addiction was found in 66.15% (n = 260) cases of fetal death,71% (n = 169) cases of low birth weight infants and 68.59% (n = 121) cases of preterm deliveries. conclusion: it is concluded that betel nut consumption among pregnant women is very high in our community. it is also determined that these products are positively associated with adverse pregnancy outcome. © 2017,liaquat university of medical and health sciences. all rights reserved.