Prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women referred to health centers in Bandar Turkmen in 2013

Iron deficiency anemia is the most common hematologic problem during pregnancy. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women referring to health care centers in Bandar Turkmen city in 2013. Methods: In the present descriptive study, 544 pregnant women were enrolled using census method of samplinig from urban health centers of Bandar Turkmen city . Data was collected using a check list and was analyzed by spearman correlation, linear regression, kruskal wallis and Wilcoxon descriptive and analitical tests using SPSS 15. Results: Iron deficiency anemia was diagnosed among 13.4% of pregnant women during 6-10 weeks of pregnancy. Spearman correlation results showed a positive significant correlation between age and hemoglobin level in the secound stage. Wilcoxon results showed a significant difference between hemoglobin levels of first and secound stages. Linear regression results showed a significant correlation between age and iron deficiency anemia, while kruskal wallis results revealed a significant relationship between Hematocrit levels within Trimesters. Conclusions: According to the high prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among pregnant women, especially during secound and trimesters, pregnant women should be educated in terms of lifestyle modification and compensating nutritional deficiencies.