Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
Nutrition Exercise and Health Sciences
Publication Date
10-5-2020
Abstract
Anemia in women of reproductive age is highly prevalent globally and remains a public health problem. In Ethiopia, despite efforts to minimize the burden of anemia, it is still a moderate public health problem. Anemia has various etiologies including nutritional deficiency, parasitic infection, and inflammation. The aim of this study was to examine contributing factors to anemia in lactating women. Following ethical approval, and six months after delivery, all lactating women (n = 150) were recruited to participate in this study from eight randomly selected rural villages. Anthropometric and socio-economic factors were assessed. From each, a blood sample was collected for measuring hemoglobin, iron biomarkers, zinc, selenium, and inflammation markers. The median (IQR) hemoglobin (Hb) was 132 (123, 139) g/L. Of the women, 19% were anemic and 7% had iron deficiency anemia; 31% were iron deficient and 2% had iron overload. Also, 8% had functional iron deficit, 6% had acute inflammation, 13% had chronic inflammation, and 16% had tissue iron deficiency. The majority (78%) of the women had low plasma zinc out of which more than 16% were anemic. Hb was positively associated with plasma iron and plasma zinc and negatively associated with transferrin receptor (TfR) and α-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). Plasma iron, AGP, TfR, hepcidin and plasma zinc were significant predictors of maternal anemia. Additionally MUAC and level of education were associated positively with maternal hemoglobin. This study showed that maternal anemia was associated with multiple factors including nutritional deficiencies, inflammation and limited education.
Recommended Citation
Gebreegziabher, T., Roice, T., & Stoecker, B. J. (2020). Chronic inflammation was a major predictor and determinant factor of anemia in lactating women in Sidama zone southern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study. PLOS ONE, 15(10), e0240254. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240254
Journal
PLOS One
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Rights
© 2020 Gebreegziabher et al.
Included in
International and Community Nutrition Commons, International Public Health Commons, Maternal and Child Health Commons, Women's Health Commons
Comments
This article was originally published Open Access in PLOS One. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.