DISTRIBUTION OF ABO AND RH D BLOOD GROUPS AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTSAMONG EJE-FARA SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS, IN CHIRO WOREDA, WEST HARARGHE ZONE, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The ABO and Rh blood groups are the most important blood groups despite the long list of several other blood groups discovered so far. The distribution of ABO and Rh blood groups vary worldwide and are not found in equal numbers even among the same ethnic groups. They are also associated with some important human traits. Therefore, this study assess the distribution of ABO and Rh-D blood groups and to determine if there is any relationship between these blood groups and anthropometric measurements (height, weight and body mass index) among Eje-fara secondary school students, in Chiro Woreda, west Hararghe zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia.The study was carried out from April 2022 to April,2023. Blood samples were taken from 400 (N = 400) volunteer students from finger-pricks and blood groups were determined on open slide by haemagglutination method using commercially available anti-sera A, B, and ,D. Height and weight of the subjects were measured using measuring tape and weighing machine respectively and blood types were determined using antisera. Blood type O has a highest frequency while blood type AB was found to be the least. The allele frequencies of 𝐼 𝑂 ,𝐼 𝐴 , and 𝐼 𝐵 were found to be 0.643, 0.194, and 0.163 respectively. With regard to Rh-D blood group system, blood type Rh-D positive was found to be the most prevalent (95%) while Rh-D negative was the least (5%). In both Rh-D positive and Rh-D negative blood types, blood type O has a highest frequency and blood type AB has the least. The allele frequencies of D and d were 0.776 and 0.224 respectively. Comparison of overall mean of height and weight values among different blood types of ABO blood group system showed significant difference (p-value<0.05). Subjects with blood type A(1.65±0.04 were relatively taller than the other blood types and the least mean height was recorded in blood type AB(1.59± subjects With regard to weight, subjects with blood type A (54.5±3.29kg) were associated with high mean weight and blood type AB (48.7± 1.9 kg) subjects were found to have the least mean weight. However, mean BMI did not show such difference (p-value>0.05). Regarding Rh-D blood group system, comparison of mean height, weight and BMI among Rh-D positive and Rh-D negative blood types did not show significant difference (p-value>0.05).The present study gives vital information regarding the management of blood bank and transfusion services in the study community.Therefore, the study of similar kind should be carried out in other population too so as to have the best information about the distribution of ABO and Rh blood group alleles.