Anemia in Female Students of Ethnic Minorities in Northern Vietnam
Keywords:
Anemia, Iron Deficiency, Thalassemia, Ethnic MinoritiesAbstract
Anemia is one of the health problems among ethnic minorities. Iron deficiency (ID) is assumed to be the main cause. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among reproductive-age women of ethnic minorities in northern Vietnam. Participants included 275 medical female students of various minority groups studying at Thai Nguyen University. Information on socio-demographic and health status was collected by means of interview. Blood samples were collected and investigated for complete blood count. Anemia was defined by hemoglobin level of less than 12 g/dl. Blood samples of anemic individuals were determined further for serum ferritin (SF). IDA was diagnosed in anemic individual with SF <15 ng/ml. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and the dichlorophenol-indophenol precipitation (DCIP) test were used to identify thalassemia carriers. Of the 275 women, the prevalence of anemia and irondeficiency anemia (IDA) was 31.6% (95% CI=26.2-37.5%), and 7.6 % (95% CI=4.8-11.4%), respectively. Based on MCV/DCIP, thalassemia was identified in 95 women (34.5%, 95% CI=28.9-40.5). Amongst anemic women, 75.9% had normal iron status. ID accounted for 24% of anemic women. Approximately 68% were found to be thalassemia carriers. The only factor associated significantly with anemia was positive thalassemia screening (OR=8.9; 95% CI=5.0-15.9). The findings are useful for establishing preventive measures not only for anemia but also for thalassemia among the ethnic minorities.
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