Prevalence, Types and Determinants of Anemia Among Pregnant Women in Sudan: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Overview

Journal BMC Hematol

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Hematology

Date 2018 Nov 21

PMID 30455961

Citations 34

Authors

Ishag Adam

Yassin Ibrahim

Osama Elhardello

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Anemia during pregnancy is a public health problem especially in developing countries and it is associated with maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes. There is no meta-analysis on anemia during pregnancy in Sudan. The current systemic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the prevalence, types and determinant of anemia during pregnancy in Sudan.

Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline was followed. The databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, CINAHL, and African Journals Online) were searched using; anemia, pregnancy related anemia and Sudan. Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) and Modified Newcastle - Ottawa quality assessment scale were used for critical appraisal of studies. The pooled Meta logistic regression was computed using OpenMeta Analyst software.

Results: Sixteen cross-sectional studies included a total of 15, 688 pregnant women were analyzed. The pooled prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in Sudan was 53.0% (95%, CI = 45.9-60.1). The meta-analysis showed no statistical significant between the age (mean difference = 0.143, 95 CI = - 0.033 - 0.319, = 0.112), parity (mean difference = 0.021, 95% CI = - 0.035 - 0.077, = 0.465) between the anemic and no anemic women. Malaria was investigated in six studies. Pregnant women who had malaria infection during pregnancy were 1.94 times more likely to develop anemia than women who had no malaria infection (OR = 1.94, 95% CI =1.33-2.82). Six (37.5%) studies investigated type of anemia. The pooled prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among pregnant women in Sudan was 13.6% (95% CI = 8.9-18.2).

Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of anemia among pregnant in the different region of Sudan. While age and parity have no association with anemia, malaria infection was associated with anemia. Interventions to promote the strengthening of antenatal care, and access and adherence to nutrition, and malaria preventive measures are needed to reduce the high level of anemia among pregnant women in Sudan.

Citing Articles

The role of iron deficiency and factors associated with anemia during pregnancy in Southeastern Tigray, Ethiopia, 2020.

Bereket T, Tela F, Gebretsadik G, Beyene S PLoS One. 2025; 20(2):e0318275.

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Anemia in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence, determinants, and health impacts in Egypt.

Azzam A, Khaled H, Alrefaey A, Basil A, Ibrahim S, Elsayed M BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2025; 25(1):29.

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Prevalence and classification of anemia among children in Sudan: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Idriss M, Hussein A, Mussa A, Ali E, Ibrahim I, Modawe G J Med Life. 2024; 17(8):761-768.

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Infectious and obstetric determinants of anemia among pregnant women in Southwest Ethiopia.

Yosef T, Gizachew A, Fetene G, Girma D, Setegn M, Tesfaw A Front Glob Womens Health. 2024; 5:1421884.

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Prevalence and Factors Associated with Adherence to Iron-Folic Acid Supplementation Among Pregnant Women in Eastern Sudan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Saeed M, Adam G, Hussein S, AlHabardi N, Adam I Patient Prefer Adherence. 2024; 18:1665-1674.

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