The significance of awareness about iron deficiency anaemia in its prevention among Iraqi pregnant women attending primary healthcare centres

Background
Iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy is one of the most common preventable causes of maternal morbidity and poor prenatal outcome. This study was conducted to assess the level of awareness about iron deficiency anaemia and the effect of the awareness in the prevention of anaemia.

Material and methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted in randomly six selected primary healthcare centres in Al Najaf city, Iraq. Data was collected from 1 July to 20 September 2022 through the interview of participants using a self-structured questionnaire. A Chi-square test was used to test the association between awareness levels and different variables, and a binomial logistic regression was performed to ascertain the effects of awareness about iron deficiency anaemia on the likelihood of its prevention among participants.

Results
The prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia among (343) pregnant women was 85.4%, and the mean haemoglobin level was 9.5 g/dL. Most of the participants had poor awareness about iron deficiency anaemia (69.4%), and only 6.1% had good awareness. Statistical analyses revealed that awareness was significantly associated with educational level, residence, financial status and parity number (p < 0.001). Binomial logistic regression analysis demonstrated that having adequate awareness increases the likelihood of not having anaemia by more than two and half times (OR = 2.72, 95% CI [1.02,7.27]).

Conclusions
A low level of awareness regarding iron deficiency anaemia was found among pregnant women. Adequate awareness among participants can help in the prevention of anaemia.