Anemia prevalence and its associated factors amongst children age under 5 years attending OPD Kigumba Health Centre 3 Kiryandongo District Uganda

Abstract

The study investigated hemoglobin levels and its associated factors among children age under 5 years attending the out patient department at kigumba health centre iii, kiryandongo district. The sample size was 131 children. A systematic sampling technique was used to collect data on the targeted population. The study adopted a cross sectional study design where data was collected at a single point in time. Using a multivariate analysis, the researcher examined the relationship between the associated factors with anemia. The research results revealed a prevalence of 38.2% as compared to the national which is at 37.8%. Furthermore, the findings in Table 5, Table 7 indicate that the level of education, occupation of the parents, family income and sicklecell were significantly associated (P<0.005) with anemia (P=0.004), (P=0.034), (P=0.00), (P=0.00) at 95%CI respectively. However the age did not have a statistical significance (P=0.591>0.005) at 95%CI and a positive correlation with anemia. These results contribute to the understanding of anemia and its associated factors. The prevalence in this research shows no big difference with the national prevalence, meaning the current measures are likely not working or are not being implemented well. This calls for a multifactorial approach with new interventions coupled with rigorous implementation of the current interventions to reduce the prevalence of anemia among this age group