Prevalence of Anemia in 15-45 Year old Women Referring to the Health Centers of Bam, 2002

Anemia is one of the most common and serious clinical problems in childbearing age women, and the prevalence of anemia varys in different populations. To establish the most appropriate strategies for preventing and treating anemia, exact information in essential. In this cross-sectional investigation, an equiprobabilistic sample of 250 women aged 15-45 years referring to the health centers of Bam were studied. Demographic characteristics were recorded in a questionnaire for women and some blood factors representing anemia were measured in clinical laboratory. Data were analysed by ANOVA, X2 and Fisher tests. The mean age of women was 28.5 years, the mean number of pregnancies was 2.99 and the mean number of children was 2.84. The hemoglobin level below 12 g/dl was considered as anemia. The study showed a prevalence of 10% of anemia, and it was related to the factors including the number of pregnancies and number of children. Mean hemoglobin of the pregnant women was 12.68 g/dl and it was 13.27 g/dl in nonpregnant women. Based on the results of this study, special attention to the women with multiple pregnancies is suggested.