Prevalence of Anaemia Among Young Adult Females in Two Selected Grama Niladhari Areas in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka

Abstract

AttachedA naem ia is a g lo b a l health problem a nd its im pact is fe lt in Sri Lanka as well. Anaemia is characterized by less than the normal quantity o f hemoglobin in the blood. Anaemia occurs at all stages o f life, but is particularly prevalent in women o f reproductive age, pregnant women and children. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence o f anaemia in two rapidly developing administrative units in Southern Province o f Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hungama and Hiththatiya middle administrative units in the Hambantota and Matara districts of Southern province o f Sri Lanka. Females between 20-50 years o f age (n=152 from each area) were selected by simple random sampling and 2 ml of venous blood was withdrawn from each subject and analysed for haemoglobin concentration by cyanmethaemoglobin method. Anaemia was defined as a haemoglobin level less than 115.0 g/L. Overall prevalence o f anaemia (Haemoglobin<114.9 g/L) was 3.94% and 5.26% for Hiththatiya middle and Hungama grama niladhari areas, respectively. There was no significant difference between prevalence o f anaemia in the two administrative units (P >0.05). Age wise 87.5% o f anaemic people are over 40 years. Prevalence o f anaemia is significantly less in the two Grama Niladhari areas compared to national data and there is no statistically significant difference between the prevalence o f anaemia between the two areas. Thus there may be pockets in Sri Lanka where anaemia may not be a major health problem as compared to the rest o f the country.