ASSOCIATION OF ABO AND RhD BLOOD GROUPS WITH ANEMIA AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN VISITING ADULALA AND KUSAYE HEALTH CENTERS IN LIBEN CHUKALA DISTRICT, EAST SHEWA ZONE, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Blood is the most important body fluid which is responsible for circulation of important nutrients, enzymes and hormones all across the body.The frequencies of ABO and Rhesus blood group system vary geographically, ethnically and from one population to another. Anemia is a global public health problem affecting both developing and developed countries with major consequences for human health as well as social and economic development. During pregnancy,anemia is an important contributor to maternal mortality. This study was conducted to determinethe association of ABO and Rh blood group system with anemia among pregnant women visiting Adulala and Kusaye health centers in Liben Chukala District,Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. A cross sectional survey study design was used to collect data from pregnant women who visited the health center for antenatal care follow up from February to July 2022. For the present study a total of 422 pregnant women who visited the health centers. ABO blood typing was done using open slide method, where a drop of blood sample from pregnant women was taken by sterile finger pricks and placed on clean and dry slide. The types of blood were determined using a drop of anti-A, anti-B and anti-D and hemoglobin concentration were tested using a HemoCue HB 201 machine.The result was read immediately after at least 5 minutes. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of anemia with their corresponding 95% CI which were computed to see the strength of association.p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.The frequency distribution of ABO blood groups among pregnant women was found to be O, A, B and AB (39.6%, 29.6%, 23.7%, 7.1%) respectively.The percentage of Rh+ and Rh- among pregnant women was found to be 95% and 5% respectively in the overall sample.From the 422 pregnant women who participated 39.8% wereanemic and 60.2% were non-anemic. Further anemia was relatively more prone in the individuals having blood type A (48.8%), B (35.7%), AB (9.5%) and O (6.0%)was comparatively resistant to anemia. From the 168 anemia detected pregnant women that 63(37.7%),45(26.8%) and 60(35.7%) were mild, moderate and severe anemic respectively. Of those anemic pregnant women that had A blood type 82 (19.4%), AOR=48.2 (95% CI 19.7-118.154) at p- value <0.002 and RhD positive 153 (36.2%), AOR=0.048 (95% CI 0.012-0.191) at p- value 0.001 were significantly associated with anemia.