title: Anaemia in pregnant adolescent girls with malaria and practicing pica.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pregnancy during the adolescent period is challenging mainly because of the nutritional demands of both the adolescent and pregnancy period. The risk for anaemia increases especially in developing countries such as Ghana where malaria is endemic and the practice of pica is common. In this study, we sought to determine the prevalence of anaemia, pica practice and malaria infection among pregnant adolescent girls and assess the extent to which these factors are associated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and sixty five (265) pregnant adolescent girls were recruited from three hospitals in Accra. Haemoglobin levels, malaria infection and the practice of pica were assessed. Pearson's Chi squared tests were used to determine associations and logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds of being anaemic. Significance was set at p≤0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Anaemia prevalence was 76% with severity ranging from mild (47.8%) to severe (0.8%). About 27.5% were moderately anaemic. Pica was practiced in only 9.1% of the girls. Malaria infection was prevalent in 17.7% of the girls. The logistic regression analysis indicated that pregnant girls with malaria infection were 3.56 times more likely to be anaemic when compared to those without malaria. Also, those who practiced pica were 1.23 times more likely to be anaemic when compared to those who did not practice pica.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anaemia is very prevalent in pregnant adolescent girls and is a public health problem. Drastic measures should be taken to reduce the high prevalence.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Ghana.
authors.forename: Freda Dzifa
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Intiful
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Ghana.
authors.forename: Edwin Kwame
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Wiredu
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Ghana.
authors.forename: George Awuku
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Asare
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Ghana.
authors.forename: Matilda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asante
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Ghana.
authors.forename: David Nana
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Adjei
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000740:Anemia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008288:Malaria / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010842:Pica / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011250:Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic / Q000453:epidemiology; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Ghana; Pregnant; adolescent; anaemia; malaria; pica