High level of hemoglobin, white blood cells and obesity among Sudanese women in early pregnancy: a cross-sectional study

Association Between Hemoglobin Level, Anemia, and Hypertension Among Adults in Northern Sudan: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background

Hypertension and anemia are major health problems globally. However, data regarding the association between hypertension and hemoglobin/anemia among adults are few and controversial. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the associations between hemoglobin/anemia and hypertension among Sudanese adults.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Northern Sudan from September to December 2022. The participants' sociodemographic characteristics were assessed using a questionnaire. Standardized procedures measured participants' weight, height, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin, and hypertension. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine the association between anemia and hypertension.

Results

Three hundred eighty-four adults were enrolled; 195 (50.8%) and 189 (49.2%) were males and females, respectively. The median interquartile age of the enrolled adults of age, BMI, and hemoglobin level was 45.0 (33.0‒55.8) years, 26.6 (22.6‒30.6) kg/m2, and 13.4 (12.4‒14.4) g/dl, respectively. Of 384 adults, 216 (56.3%) had hypertension, and 148 (38.5%) were newly diagnosed hypertensive. Eighty-six adults (22.4%) had anemia. In univariate analysis, while increasing age, being female, being unmarried, having a positive family history of hypertension, and increasing BMI were positively associated with hypertension, anemia was inversely associated with hypertension. Education, occupation, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption were not associated with hypertension. In multivariate analysis, age (adjusted odd ratio [AOR] = 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03‒1.07), BMI (AOR= 1.07, 95% CI = 1.03‒1.12) were inversely associated with hypertension, being female (AOR = 2.92, 95% CI = 1.43‒5.94), positive family history of hypertension (AOR= 1.73, 95% CI = 1.09‒2.75), and hemoglobin level (AOR= 1.34, 95% CI = 1.12‒1.61) were associated with hypertension. Anemia (AOR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.34‒0.99) was inversely associated with hypertension.

Conclusion

Both anemia and hypertension are major public health problems in Northern Sudan. Anemia is associated with hypertension. Further research is needed to explore the complex association between hemoglobin/anemia and hypertension.

Mining the Gap: Deriving Pregnancy Reference Intervals for Hematology Parameters Using Clinical Datasets

BACKGROUND

Physiological changes during pregnancy invalidate use of general population reference intervals (RIs) for pregnant people. The complete blood count (CBC) is commonly ordered during pregnancy, but few studies have established pregnancy RIs suitable for contemporary Canadian mothers. Prospective RI studies are challenging to perform during pregnancy while retrospective techniques fall short as pregnancy and health status are not readily available in the laboratory information system (LIS). This study derived pregnancy RIs retrospectively using LIS data linked to provincial perinatal registry data.

METHODS

A 5-year healthy pregnancy cohort was defined from the British Columbia Perinatal Data Registry and linked to laboratory data from two laboratories. CBC and differential RIs were calculated using direct and indirect approaches. Impacts of maternal and pregnancy characteristics, such as age, body mass index, and ethnicity, on laboratory values were also assessed.

RESULTS

The cohort contained 143 106 unique term singleton pregnancies, linked to >972 000 CBC results. RIs were calculated by trimester and gestational week. Result trends throughout gestation aligned with previous reports in the literature, although differences in exact RI limits were seen for many tests. Trimester-specific bins may not be appropriate for several CBC parameters that change rapidly within trimesters, including red blood cells (RBCs), some leukocyte parameters, and platelet counts.

CONCLUSIONS

Combining information from comprehensive clinical databases with LIS data provides a robust and reliable means for deriving pregnancy RIs. The present analysis also illustrates limitations of using conventional trimester bins during pregnancy, supporting use of gestational age or empirically derived bins for defining CBC normal values during pregnancy.

The association between blood groups, Rhesus factors, body mass index and obesity among pregnant women at Gadarif Maternity Hospital, Eastern Sudan

BACKGROUND

The existing evidence regarding the link between blood groups and obesity remains inconclusive, and there is a noticeable lack of data on the potential association between blood groups and obesity during pregnancy. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate the association between blood groups, body mass index (BMI), and obesity among pregnant women receiving care at Gadarif Maternity Hospital in eastern Sudan.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted in eastern Sudan during the period from April to September 2022. A questionnaire was employed to gather sociodemographic information from pregnant women. BMI was computed based on weight and height. Blood groups determinations were made using the agglutination method which is commonly used in the study's region. Multinominal and multiple linear regression analyses were performed, and adjusted for covariates in the regression models.

RESULTS

Eight hundred and thirty-three pregnant women were enrolled with a median (interquartile range, IQR) gestational age of 10.0 (9.3‒11.0) weeks. The median (IQR) BMI of the women was 26.3(24.2‒29.4) kg/m2. Of these women, 11(1.3%) were underweight, 268(32.2%) were of normal weight, 371(44.5%) were overweight, and 183(22.0%) were obese. One hundred eighty-three (22.0%) women had blood group A, 107 (12.8%) had blood group B, 56 (6.7%) had blood group AB, and 487(58.5%) had blood group O. While 798 (95.8%) of the women were Rhesus factor positive, only 35 (4.2%) were Rhesus factor negative. Multinominal regression showed that only urban residency (adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 2.46, 95% confidence interval, CI = 1.47‒4.13) was associated with overweight. Blood groups and Rhesus factors were not associated with overweight. Age (AOR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.01‒1.11), urban residence (AOR = 2.46, 95%, CI = 1.47‒4.13), and blood group O (AOR = 1.60, 95%, CI = 1.06‒2.40), were associated with obesity. Rhesus factors were not associated with obesity. In the multiple linear regression, age (coefficient = 0.07, P = 0.028), gravidity (coefficient = 0.25, P = 0.014), urban residence (coefficient = 1.33, P = 0.001), and blood group O (coefficient = 0.68, P = 0.035) were associated with BMI.

CONCLUSIONS

Blood group O was associated with obesity and high BMI among pregnant women in eastern Sudan. Rhesus factors were not associated with obesity.

Association of the HALP Score with Dyslipidemia: A Large, Nationwide Retrospective Study

Background and Objectives: Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The identification of new biomarkers that may enhance the risk assessment of lipid abnormalities is a promising approach in improving risk prediction of CVD. There is no information on the association of the hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, and platelet (HALP) score with dyslipidemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical utility of the HALP score in light of dyslipidemia. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 7192 subjects was initiated to assess the association between the HALP score and disturbed lipid markers. Medians were compared by Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis tests and the diagnostic performance and risk assessment were calculated. Results: Median HALP score among all subjects was 53.3, with varying values between males and females. Notably, median HALP was significantly elevated in all forms of dyslipidemia and among males and females irrespective of age. The odds of having elevated HALP score values were significantly higher in all lipid abnormalities. Moreover, HALP score was significantly yet weakly correlated with lipid markers, while the highest diagnostic accuracy of the HALP score was observed with an elevated ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein (TC/HDL) (area under the curve, AUC = 0.6411, p < 0.0001). The decision curve analysis (DCA) showed that the HALP score can reliably predict the presence of dyslipidemia. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the HALP score is a novel, cost-effective index that is associated with a disturbed lipid profile. Further investigation of the nature of this association is needed.

Hemoglobin Levels, Anemia, and Their Associations with Body Mass Index among Pregnant Women in Hail Maternity Hospital, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

The level of association between hemoglobin level/anemia and obesity during pregnancy is not yet fully understood. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hail Maternity Hospital in northern Saudi Arabia from March to May 2023 to assess the associations between hemoglobin levels, anemia, and obesity among pregnant women. Reproductive history was gathered through a questionnaire. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated/computed from the women's weight and height. Linear and binary regression analyses were performed. A total of 334 pregnant women were enrolled. The median (interquartile range (IQR)) age and parity were 33.2 (27.4-37.8) years and 3 (1-5), respectively. Of the 334 women, 52 (15.6%) were normal weight, while 87 (26.0%) were overweight and 195 (58.4%) were obese. In the multiple linear regression, parity (coefficient = -0.121, p = 0.001) and BMI (coefficient = 0.030, p = 0.006) were negatively associated with the hemoglobin level. Ninety-nine (26.9%) women had anemia. In the multivariate analysis, primiparity (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.30-0.97), increasing BMI (AOR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.89-0.97), and obesity (AOR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.16-0.61) were associated with decreased ORs of anemia. Increasing parity was associated with increased ORs of anemia (AOR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.05-1.32). Being overweight was not associated with anemia (AOR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.27-1.16). In the current study, a high hemoglobin level and lower prevalence of anemia were observed among obese pregnant women.

Factors associated with undernutrition among pregnant women in Haramaya district, Eastern Ethiopia: A community-based study

INTRODUCTION

Although undernutrition in pregnancy has continued to get global attention as pregnancy is considered a critical period in the life cycle owed to increase the metabolic and physiological demands, evidence is scarce on undernutrition and associated factors among pregnant women in eastern Ethiopia. Therefore, this study assessed the undernutrition and associated factors among pregnant women in Haramaya district, Eastern Ethiopia.

METHODS

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected pregnant women in Haramaya district, eastern Ethiopia. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews, anthropometric measurement, and hemoglobin analysis by trained research assistants. An adjusted Prevalence ratio (aPR), and a 95% confidence interval (CI), were used to report associations. Poisson regression analysis model with a robust variance estimate identified variables associated with undernutrition. Data were double entered using Epi-data 3.1 and cleaned, coded, checked for missing and outliers, and analyzed using Stata 14 (College Station, Texas 77845 USA. Finally, the p-value <0.05 was the cut-off point for the significant association.

RESULTS

A total of 448 pregnant women with a mean age of 25.68 (± 5.16) were included in the study. The prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women was 47.9% (95% CI: 43%-53%). From the analysis, the undernutrition was more likely higher among respondents who had five or more family members (APR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.02-1.40), lower dietary diversity (APR = 1.58; 95% CI = 1.13-2.21) and those who were anemic (APR = 4.27; 95% CI = 3.17-5.76).

CONCLUSION

Nearly half of the pregnant women in study area were undernourished. High prevalence was found among women who had large family sizes, low dietary diversity and anemia during pregnancy. Improving dietary diversity, strengthening family planning services and giving special attention to pregnant women, supplementation of iron and folic acid, and early detection and treatment of anemia is essential to improve the high burden of undernutrition and the adverse effect on pregnant women and the fetus.

Undernutrition and associated factors among pregnant women in East Borena Zone, Liban District, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia

Background

Undernutrition is cellular imbalance between supply of nutrients, energy and body's demand to ensure growth, maintenance, and specific function. However, there was no study conducted earlier on this topic in East Borena Zone.

Objective

To assess the prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors among pregnant women in East Borena Zone, Liban District.

Method

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 420 study participants from November 20 to December 2021. The systematic sampling technique and simple random sampling methods were used to select study participants. Data were double entered into Epi-info software version 7 and SPSS version 21 software for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of study participants. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regressions were carried out to identify the association between independent and dependent variables by measuring the adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results

Prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women was about (44.9%) of family monthly income [AOR = 8.72 (4.80, 15.83)], women's decision-making autonomy [AOR = 0.40 (0.19, 0.82)], skipping meal [AOR = 2.62 (1.41, 4.89)], substance use [AOR = 2.01 (1.07, 3.77)], household food insecurity [AOR = 2.01 (1.06, 3.80)], lack of prenatal dietary advice [AOR = 2.73 (1.53, 4.89)], absence of household latrine [AOR = 9.23 (3.48, 24.46)], not participating health development army's meeting at village level [AOR = 3.01 (1.57, 5.72)] and hand washing habit [AOR = 6.55 (3.02, 14.20)] had shown statistically significant association with undernutrition.

Conclusion

The prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women was high income. Women's decision-making autonomy, skipping meals, substances use, household food insecurity, lack of prenatal dietary advice, poor hand washing habit, lack household of latrine, and not participation in health development army's meeting were found to be predictors of the undernutrition.

Early pregnancy hemoglobin is associated with the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: a retrospective cohort study

This study aimed to determine the association between hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and Hb change, during early to mid-pregnancy with the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This was a clinic-based retrospective cohort study of 1951 healthy pregnant women (18-45 years old) with a singleton gestation attending antenatal care at government health clinics. Hb concentration at first prenatal visit and each trimester was extracted from the antenatal cards. Hb changes from first prenatal visit to first and second trimester as well as from second to third trimester were calculated. Multivariate logistic regression was used with adjustment for covariates. Women with GDM had significantly higher Hb concentrations (Hb 1) at first prenatal visit (< 12 weeks) compared with non-GDM women (11·91 g/dl v.11·74 g/dl). Hb 1 and Hb changes (Hb change 2) from first prenatal visit to the second trimester (23-27th weeks) were significantly associated with GDM risk, with an adjusted OR of 1·14 (95 % CI 1·01, 1·29) and 1·25 (95 % CI 1·05, 1·49), respectively. The significant associations between Hb 1 and Hb change 2 with the risk of GDM were found among non-Malays, overweight/obese and women aged 35 years and above. Women with higher Hb concentrations in early pregnancy were at higher risk of GDM, and such association was significant among women aged 35 years and above, non-Malays and overweight/obese. This raises a potential concern for elevated Fe status in early pregnancy as a risk factor of GDM among Fe-replete women.

Undernutrition and its associated factors among pregnant women at the Public Hospitals of Bench-Sheko and Kaffa zone, Southwest Ethiopia

Background

Undernutrition in pregnant women, expressed as low mid-upper arm circumference, is responsible for maternal mortality and morbidity, adverse birth outcomes, subsequent childhood malnutrition, and mortality. As a result, the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of maternal undernutrition and associated factors during pregnancy in public hospitals in the Bench-Sheko and Kaffa zones of southwest Ethiopia.

Methods

A facility-based cross-sectional study design was employed among 566 women who received antenatal care from March–May 2021 at the public hospitals of the Bench-Sheko and Kaffa zones, Southwest Ethiopia. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the research unit. Undernutrition was measured by mid-upper arm circumference. The data were entered into Epi- Data version 3.1 and then exported to Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 software for analysis. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed using variables with a P-value <0.25 in bivariate logistic regression analysis. Finally, in multivariate logistic regression analysis, the variable with a (P-value < 0.05) is considered statistically significant.

Results

A total of 566 pregnant women participated in our study with a response rate of 98.3%. The overall prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women was 42.4% (95% CI: 38.3, 46.5). In multivariate logistic regression, the age of mothers between 16-24 years old (AOR = 3.9, 95% CI: 1.60, 9.70), household food insecurity (AOR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.04, 3.15), and poor dietary knowledge (AOR = 3.25, 95% CI: 1.94, 5.47) were the factors significantly associated with undernutrition among pregnant women.

Conclusion

According to this study finding, the prevalence of undernutrition was very much high in the study area, which was significantly associated with the age groups of 16–24 years older women, poor dietary knowledge, and household food insecurity. Therefore, the strategies and programs targeted towards reducing and preventing undernutrition among pregnant mothers should be made at all levels to improve their nutritional status, and also health information, nutrition counseling, and food assistant should be provided.

Socio-economic determinants of prenatal anaemia in rural communities of South-West Nigeria: a preliminary report

BACKGROUND

Anaemia is common worldwide and pregnant women are one of the most vulnerable group. Although, anaemia in the general population including pregnant women is multi-factorial in aetiology, the most frequent cause in pregnancy worldwide is iron deficiency. In Nigeria, an estimated prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women ranges from 35-75%. Anaemia in pregnancy (AIP) is associated with significant perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality including premature birth and low birth weight.

AIM

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, demographic and socio-economic determinants of anaemia in pregnancy in a rural community of South-West Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One-hundred and fifty consenting pregnant women aged 18-42 years in the three trimesters were recruited from four primary health centres of Ikene Local Government of Ogun State of Nigeria after ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Unit of the Medical officer of Health of the Local Government. Pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic information and 24-hour dietary recall. Using a finger prick, the haemoglobin concentration of each respondent was determined with a haemoglobinometer (DG-300HB manufactured by DouBle, China). Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.

RESULTS

All the respondents belonged to low socio-economic class. The mean haemoglobin (Hb) concentration obtained in this study was 10.22±1.60 g/dL with a range of 6-14.8 g/dL. Using WHO cut-off Hb concentration of 11 g/dL, the prevalence of anaemia in this study was 67.3%. The frequency of anaemia increased with increase in age group. P=0.010. About 21.4% of those with adequate dietary iron intake were anaemic when compared with 72.1% (98 of 136) of those with inadequate dietary iron intake who were anaemic. AOR-0.090; 95% CI- 0.018-0.457; P=0.004.

CONCLUSION

Increasing age, low socio-economic status, poor health education and low dietary iron intake were the predominant socio-economic determinants of prenatal anaemia in the population studied. Efforts must be intensified to alleviate poverty in rural areas and give health education on iron-rich foods to girls and women of children-bearing age in the rural communities.

Integrative analysis of blood and gut microbiota data suggests a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)-related disorder in French SLAdd minipigs

Minipigs are a group of small-sized swine lines, which show a broad range of phenotype variation and which often tend to be obese. The SLA^dd (DD) minipig line was created by the NIH and selected as homozygous at the SLA locus. It was brought to France more than 30 years ago and maintained inbred ever since. In this report, we characterized the physiological status of a herd of French DD pigs by measuring intermediate phenotypes from blood and faeces and by using Large White (LW) pigs as controls. Three datasets were produced, i.e. complete blood counts (CBCs), microarray-based blood transcriptome, and faecal microbiota obtained by 16S rRNA sequencing. CBCs and expression profiles suggested a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)-related pathology associated to comorbid cardiac diseases. The characterization of 16S sequencing data was less straightforward, suggesting only a potential weak link to obesity. The integration of the datasets identified several fine-scale associations between CBCs, gene expression, and faecal microbiota composition. NAFLD is a common cause of chronic liver disease in Western countries and is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiac pathologies. Here we show that the French DD herd is potentially affected by this syndrome.

Burden and determinants of malnutrition among pregnant women in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Malnutrition in pregnancy remains unacceptably high across all regions of Africa though promising progresses have been made globally. Primary studies might not be sufficient to portrait a comprehensive picture of malnutrition during pregnancy and its main risk factors. Therefore, we intended to review the burden of malnutrition, for this specific review implies to protein energy malnutrition, during pregnancy in Africa to present its magnitude and determinant factors.

METHODS

We did a systematic review of observational studies published from January 1/2008 to January 31/2018. The CINAHL(EBSCO), MEDLINE (via Ovid), Emcare, PubMed databases and Google scholar were searched. Articles quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and studies with fair to good quality were included. We pooled malnutrition prevalence and an odds ratio estimates for risk factors after checking for heterogeneity and publication bias. This review has been registered in Prospero with a protocol number CRD42018114949.

RESULT

23 studies involving 20,672 pregnant women were included. Using a random effect model, the overall pooled prevalence of malnutrition among pregnant women in Africa was 23.5% (95%CI: 17.72-29.32; I2 = 98.5%). Based on the current review pooled odds ratio finding; rural residency (POR = 2.6%; 95%CI: 1.48-4.65; I2 = 0%), low educational status of partners (POR = 1.7%; 95%CI: 1.19-2.53; I2 = 54.8%), multiple pregnancy (POR = 2.15%; 95%CI: 1.27-3.64; I2 = 0%) and poor nutritional indicators (POR = 2.03%; 95%CI: 1.72-2.4, I2 = 0%) were positively determine maternal malnutrition. On contrary, better household economic status (POR = 0.47%; 95%CI: 0.36-0.62; I2 = 24.2%) negatively determine maternal malnutrition.

CONCLUSION

A significant number of the pregnant population in Africa are suffering of malnutrition, above 10% of the standard acceptable malnutrition rate. Thus, efforts should be renewed to ensure a proper and widespread implementation of programs that would address issues identified in the current review to reduce the burden of malnutrition.

Undernutrition and its associated factors among pregnant mothers in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Regardless of significant gains and signs of progress in the last decades, maternal undernutrition remains a major public health concern in Ethiopia. Supporting the progress of interventions being taken in the country with evidence might be important to keep the sustainability of the government effort. We aimed at determining the extent of undernutrition and its associated factors among pregnant mothers in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia.

METHOD

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted by including 940 selected pregnant mothers through a cluster sampling. A face-to-face interview was administered to pregnant mothers at a household level. We collected data using an Online Data collection kit (ODK) and the collected data was directly downloaded from the Google Cloud platform and finally imported to Stata 14 for further analysis. A multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with undernutrition. A crude and adjusted odds ratio with their 95% confidence interval was calculated to declare the association and its significance. Model fitness was assured through the Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness of fit test and model classification accuracy.

RESULT

14.4% (95%CI: 12.3-16.7) of pregnant mothers were undernourished. After adjusting for the main covariates; as the age of the pregnant mothers increases the odds of being undernourished decreases by 10% (AOR: 0.90; 95%CI: 0.87-0.95) and having a poor marital condition (AOR: 2.18; 95%CI: 1.03-4.59) increased the odds of undernutrition. The risk of undernutrition was also decreased by 43% among those pregnant mothers who consumed coffee sometimes (AOR: 0.57; 95%CI: 0.36-0.89) as compared to daily consumers.

CONCLUSION

A significant proportion of pregnant mother were undernourished. Integration of nutritional interventions with maternity health services would be highly important to improve the nutritional status of the mothers. It is also important to counsel pregnant mothers about a consequence of frequent coffee drinking during their pregnancy.

Prevalence, types and determinants of anemia among pregnant women in Sudan: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Anemia during pregnancy is a public health problem especially in developing countries and it is associated with maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes. There is no meta-analysis on anemia during pregnancy in Sudan. The current systemic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the prevalence, types and determinant of anemia during pregnancy in Sudan.

Methods

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline was followed. The databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, CINAHL, and African Journals Online) were searched using; anemia, pregnancy related anemia and Sudan. Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) and Modified Newcastle – Ottawa quality assessment scale were used for critical appraisal of studies. The pooled Meta logistic regression was computed using OpenMeta Analyst software.

Results

Sixteen cross-sectional studies included a total of 15, 688 pregnant women were analyzed. The pooled prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in Sudan was 53.0% (95%, CI = 45.9–60.1). The meta-analysis showed no statistical significant between the age (mean difference = 0.143, 95 CI = − 0.033 − 0.319, P = 0.112), parity (mean difference = 0.021, 95% CI = − 0.035 − 0.077, P = 0.465) between the anemic and no anemic women. Malaria was investigated in six studies. Pregnant women who had malaria infection during pregnancy were 1.94 times more likely to develop anemia than women who had no malaria infection (OR = 1.94, 95% CI =1.33–2.82). Six (37.5%) studies investigated type of anemia. The pooled prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among pregnant women in Sudan was 13.6% (95% CI = 8.9–18.2).

Conclusion

There is a high prevalence of anemia among pregnant in the different region of Sudan. While age and parity have no association with anemia, malaria infection was associated with anemia. Interventions to promote the strengthening of antenatal care, and access and adherence to nutrition, and malaria preventive measures are needed to reduce the high level of anemia among pregnant women in Sudan.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12878-018-0124-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.