Abstract: Aims & Objectives 1. To study the prevalence and severity of anemia among urban and rural pregnant women aged above 18 years and beyond 12 weeks of amenorrhoea.
2. To compare the awareness and perception about anemia, social factors contributing to it and its health impacts in pregnancy between urban and rural pregnant women.
Methods: An urban, rural based, cross – sectional, comparative study was conducted among 100 urban and 100 rural pregnant women aged above 18 years and beyond 12weeks of amenorrhea. The data were collected by questionnaire to test their awareness and perception about anemia and its contributory social factors and analyzed using SPSS software.
Results: The prevalence of anemia was 74% and 59% in rural and urban women respectively and this difference was found statistically significant. The severity was more among rural women compared to that of urban women and this difference was statistically significant. Awareness about causes and health impacts of anemia as well as perception of anemia was better among urban women compared to that of rural women.
Conclusion: Prevalence and severity of anemia was more in rural mothers but the awareness and perception about it was better among urban mothers. It is recommended to improve their awareness and perception by intensive health education about anemia and its outcome. Public health education has to be a cornerstone for the successful national campaign to prevent, detect, evaluate, and treat anemia among pregnant women.
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