Keywords
Iron deficiency
Iron status
Okoyong
Akpabuyo
Calabar
How to Cite
Abstract
Summary: Anaemia in pregnancy is a major public health problem in Nigeria. Iron deficiency is one of the major causes of anaemia in pregnancy. Inadequate iron intake during pregnancy can be dangerous to both baby and mother. Iron status of pregnant women was assessed in two rural and one urban communities in Cross River State Nigeria. Packed cell volume, haemoglobin, mean cell haemoglobin, mean cell haemoglobin concentration, red cell count, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, transferrin saturation, serum ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor and soluble transferrin receptor/ferritin ratio were measured in plasma/serum of 170 pregnant women within the age range of 15-45 years. Seventy participants were from antenatal clinic of University of Calabar Teaching Hospital Calabar (urban community), 50 from St Joseph Hospital Ikot Ene (rural community) in Akpabuyo Local Government Area and the remaining 50 from University of Calabar Teaching Hospital extension clinic in Okoyong (rural community), Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River state. The prevalence of anaemia, iron deficiency, iron depletion and iron deficiency anaemia were found to be significantly higher (p<0.05) among pregnant women from the two rural communities when compared to the urban community. it was also observed that the prevalence of anaemia, iron deficiency, iron depletion and iron deficiency anaemia were significantly higher (p<0.05) among pregnant women from Akpabuyo 38(76.00%), 20(40.00%), 23(46.0%) , 16(32.00%) respectively followed by Okoyong 24(48.0%), 20(40.0%), 16(32.0%), 6(12.0) and then those from Calabar 14(20%), 12(17.90%) , 14(20.0%). The mean haemoglobin and haematocrit were significantly reduced (p<0.01) in pregnant women from the two rural communities. Serum iron, serum ferritin and transferrin saturation showed no significant difference while total iron binding capacity and soluble transferrin receptor significantly (p<0.01) increased among pregnant women from Okoyong when compared to those from Calabar. It was also shown that pregnant women in their third trimesters and multigravidae had the highest prevalence of iron depletion and iron deficiency anaemia while prevalence of iron deficiency and anaemia were higher in primigravidae and the pregnant women in their second trimester. In conclusion, this study has shown that the prevalence of anaemia and iron deficiency anaemia are higher among pregnant women in the rural communities when compared to those in the urban areas.
References
Agarwal, K. N., Agarwal, D. K., and Sharma, A. (2006). Prevalence of anaemia in pregnant and lactating women in India. Indian Journal of Medical Research. 124:173–184.
Akanmu, A. S., Abudu, O. O. and Akinsete (1998). Influence of Socio- Economic status on haemoglobin and haematocrit levels during pregnancy in Lagos Nigeria. The Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal. 5: 131–135.
Alhossain, A. and Amanda, E. D. (2012). Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Pregnancy and Postpartum: Pathophysiology and Effect of Oral versus Intravenous Iron Therapy. Journal of Pregnancy. 2012: 1155-1165.
Armstrong, C. (2011). AAP reports on diagnosis and prevention of iron deficiency anaemia. American Family Physician. 83: 624-655.
Baynes, R. D., Shih, Y. J. And Cook, J. D. (1991). Production of soluble transferring receptor by K563 erythroleukemia cells. Br. J Haematol. 78: 450–455.
Bodnar, L. M., Siega-Riz, A. M., Arab, L., Chantala, K. and McDonald, T. (2004). Predictors of pregnancy and postpartum haemoglobin concentration in low income women. Public Health Nutrition. 7(6): 701-711.
Demaeyer, E., Adiels-Tegman, M. and Raystone, E. (1985). The prevalence of anaemia in the world. RaapTrimest Stat Sanit Mond. 38: 302-316.
Desalegn, S. (1993). Prevalence of anemia in pregnancy in Jimma town, South- western Ethiopia. Ethiopia Med J. 31: 251-258.
Dugdale, A. E. (2006). Predicting iron and folate deficiency anaemias from standard blood testing: the mechanism and implications for clinical
medicine and public health in developing countries. TheorBiol Med Model. 3:34-40.
Elzahrani S. S. (2012). Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics at Al-Hada Hospital, Can. J. Med. 3: 10-14.
Garn, S. M., Ridella, S. A., Petzold, A. S. and Falkner, F. (1981). Maternal hematological levels and pregnancy outcome. SeminPerinatol. 5: 155-162.
Gibson, R. S., Abebe, Y., Stabler, S., Allen, R. H., Westcott, J. E., Stoecker, B. J., Krebs, N. F. and Hambidge, K. M. (2008). Zinc, gravida, infection, and iron, but not vitamin B-12 or folate status, predict hemoglobin during pregnancy in Southern Ethiopia. J Nutr. 138: 581–586.
Hallberg, L. (1992). Iron balance in pregnancy and lactation. In: Fomon SJ, Zlotkin S, (eds). Nutritional anemias. New York: Raven Press, Ltd. Nestlé Nutrition Workshop Series. 30: 13-25.
Hindmarsh, P. C., Geary, M. P., Rodeck, C. H., Jackson, M. R. and Kingdom, J. C. (2000). Effect of early maternal iron stores on placental weight and structure. Lancet. 356: 719–723.
Idowu, O. A., Mafiana, C. F., Dapo, S. (2005). Anaemia in pregnancy: a survey of pregnant women in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Afr HealthSci. 5: 295-299.
Ogbeide, O., Wagbatsoma, V. and Orhue, A. (1994). Anaemia in Pregnancy. East Africa Med J. 71: 671–673.
Okafor, I. M., Antai A. B., Okpokam, D. C., Usanga E. A. (2014). Soluble transferrin receptor as a marker in the diagnosis of iron deficiency anaemia, a study in Calabar. International Journal of Biomedical Laboratory Science. 3: 41-47.
Okafor, I. M., Asemota, E. A., Antai, A. B., Usanga, E. A (2013). Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anaemia among Pregnant Women in Calabar, Cross River State Nigeria. IOSR Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences. 7: 60-64.
Okafor, I. M., Akpan, P. A., Usanga, E. A. (2012). Prevalence and Types of Anaemia in Malaria Infected Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. Journal of Natural Sciences Research. 2: 73-78
Singh, K., Fong, Y. F. and Arulkumaran, S. (1998). Anemia in pregnancy a Cross Sectional Study in Singapore. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 52: 65-70.
Usanga, E. A. (1990). Iron store of Nigerian Blood donors as assessed by serum ferritin concentration. Central African Medical Journal. 36: 170-173.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.