Prevalence of Anemia and its main determinants among primigravidae in antenatal population of a Tertiary Care Hospital of Lahore

Aim: to determine prevalence & main determinants of anemia among primigravidae in antenatal population of a tertiary care hospital in lahore; pakistan. study design: cross sectional observational. place & duration of study: opd of lady aitcheson hospital/king edward medical university,lahore; from march 2013 to september 2013. methodology: 462 primigravidae were included in the study,only those primigravidae were included who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. histories including relevant questions were recorded in a preformatted questionnaire. hemoglobin was checked by sahli's haemoglobinometer followed by complete blood count by automated haemanalyzer. results were recorded and analyzed. results: a total of 462 patients were examined in this study. prevalence of anemia was 78.1% (361/462),270/462 (74.79%) had mild anemia,85(23.54%) moderately anemic,and 6(1.66%) severely anemic. 97.6% were 18-30 years of age and 87% were <37 weeks of gestation. main determinants of anemia enquired in this study were: residence,education,working status (social factors),no. of meals per day,meat consumption /week,pica,vegetarian / non vegetarian status(dietary factors),menorrhagia,bleeding gums,duration of pregnancy,these were checked and analyzed by chi-square test. urban residence,non working status and low no. of meals/day were found significant statistically (p-value <0.05) for anemia in primigravidae in this study. conclusion: high prevalence of anemia in primigravidae was mainly linked with social and dietary factors.