Prevalence of anaemia among females of the reproductive age group visiting Chisapani dispensary

Abstract

Anaemia is one of the major health problems in Nepal. Nutritional anaemia is one
of the commonest forms of anaemia and affects chiefly the females in the reproductive
age group. The available data from the hospital records and small-scale studies put
the estimate to more than 50%. There are other figures that project the range from 60-
75% among this group. The present study was conducted on females of the
reproductive age group visiting the dispensary attached to Nepalgunj Medical College,
Chisapani. The total number of females included in the study was 71. Nearly 65% were
less than 30 years of age. The literacy rate was around 39.4%. Among the 66 married
females, the number of children ranged from 0-7. Among the subjects, 79% were found
to be anaemic. The proportion of female with anaemia was not associated with
increasing age or education of the subjects but some degree of association could be
observed with increasing number of children. Usage of temporary contraceptive was
also found to be associated with a larger proportion of females being anaemic. The
degree of contribution made by hookworm infestation to the present figures of anaemia
cannot be commented upon in numerical terms but could be high.