Prevalence and associated factors of anemia among adolescent girls living in Aw-Barrerefugee camp, Somali Regional state, Southeast Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescent girls in developing countries suffer from many social, economic and health problems. They are also vulnerable for both macro and micro nutrient deficiency including Anemia. Anemia is prevalent in these population because they have increased requirement, decreased intake and increased loss of hematopoietic nutrients. Deficiency of this nutrients is sever in adolescents living in refugee camps. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with anemia among adolescent girls aged 10 – 19 years in Aw Barre Somalia refugee camps, South East, Ethiopia, 2015. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was employed. Study participants were recruited by using simple random sampling technique. Structured and pre-tested questionnaire were used for data collection. By prick a finger after applying aseptic technique and gently pressed the finger to take 10μl of blood on HemoCuvettes. The blood samples were tested by using HemoCue Hb 301 and the existence of anemia was established if hemoglobin level was <12.5gm/dl after adjustment altitude. EPI INFO version 7.0 was used for data entry and finally exported to SPPS version 20.0 for further analysis. Descriptive statistics were carried out then bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were used to explore significant variables. Variables having P - Value ≤ 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Result: About 437 refugee adolescent girls were participating in this study with a response rate of 96.89%. The overall prevalence of anemic was 22%, 95%CI (17.6, 26.1). In this study, late adolescents were 2.05 (95% CI, (1.12, 3.73)) times at higher risk as compared to early adolescents and those who stay ≥ 8yrs in camp were 3.12 (95% CI, (1.16, 8.39)) times higher when related to those stay < 8yrs. Adolescent girls having inadequate intake of egg were 6.67 (95%CI, (1.15, 38.75)) times higher as compared to those who took frequently, this is similarly 12.66 (95%CI, (2.90, 55.27)) times among meat and meat products for development of anemia.