Lack of Awareness on Prevention of Anemia in Pregnancy among Pregnant Women

📄 Words:	2540
📝 Subject:	Healthcare Research
📑 Pages:	10
📚 Topics:	Pregnancy

Introduction
Summarization
Similarities
Differences
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Lyoba, W. B., Mwakatoga, J. D., Festo, C., Mrema, J., & Elisaria, E. (2020). Adherence to iron-folic acid supplementation and associated factors among pregnant women in Kasulu communities in north-western Tanzania. International Journal of Reproductive Medicine.
Elements for Analysis	Review Findings
Why was the study done? What is the problem as it is presented in the research study article? Will the study solve a problem relevant to nursing?	The research aims to identify the intake of iron among pregnant women The research problem in the study is the adherence to iron in pregnant women Yes, the study will solve a nursing problem.
What is the study setting? (Include who, where and when.)	It studied pregnant women in Tanzania in 2019.
What is the sample size? What was the process for randomization?	The sample size is 320 women. The sampling used the probability randomization process.
Are the instruments of the variables in the study clearly defined and reliable? What are the independent and dependent variables in this study? Are the operational definitions of the variables given? If so, are they concrete and measurable? Is the research question or the hypothesis stated? What is it?	Yes, they are viable and well-defined. The Independent variable was blood sample which is measurable. Dependent variables were questions concerning anemia and mainly on women as the subjects. The research question is what is the adherence of pregnant women to iron supplements in Tanzania
How were the data analyzed?	SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software was used for analysis.
Were there any unusual events during the study? Did participants drop from the research? Why?	There was no any unusual event in the research No, they did not; the study was valid to them.
How do the results fit in with previous research in this area? Do the studies build upon previous research?	Yes, the outcomes fit with other articles that not many women were aware of anemia and iron-folic acid supplements. No, it does not.
What are the implications of the research for clinical practice? Is the study relevant and important to the clinical question? Are the results applicable to your set or subset of patients or samples? Identifythe risks and benefits of a treatment recommendation or conform to patient preferences. What are the findings as reported by the researcher?	The study implies that nurses should educate pregnant women on anemia and the importance of iron-folic supplements. The article is relevant to the clinical question. Yes, the results are related, and the recommendation will benefit pregnant women as they will be aware of the importance of iron-folic acid. Results show that 69.4% did not have knowledge of anemia and iron-folic acid supplements.

Adapted from “Demystifying Research: Simplifying Critical Appraisal”. Anne Dabrow Woods, MSN, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC Chief Nurse of Lippincott Williams and Wilkins and Ovid, and publisher of AJN: American Journal of Nursing. 2012.

Sultana, F., Ara, G., Akbar, T., & Sultana, R. (2019). Knowledge about Anemia among pregnant women in tertiary hospital. Medicine Today, 31(2), 105-110.
Elements for Analysis	Review Findings
Why was the study done? What is the problem as it is presented in the research study article? Will the study solve a problem relevant to nursing?	The study was to probe the knowledge of pregnant women about anemia. The problem is what level of knowledge do pregnant women in the Tabuk region have concerning anemia. Yes, the study solves a problem in nursing.
What is the study setting?	Studies pregnant women in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, in 2019.
What is the sample size? What was the process for randomization?	The sample size is 300 pregnant women out of 1200 registered women carried out at eight health centers The sample size was picked by the use of a simple random sampling method.
Are the instruments of the variables in the study clearly defined and reliable? What are the independent and dependent variables in this study? Are the operational definitions of the variables given? If so, are they concrete and measurable? Is the research question or the hypothesis stated? What is it?	Yes, the instruments of the variables in the study clearly reliable and defined. Dependent variable is the blood samples which is measurable Independent variable is the type of food intake which is concrete The research question stated. It states, what is the level of knowledge of pregnant women in Tabuk region regarding the prevention of IDA in pregnancy?
How were the data analyzed?	SPSS was used for the analysis.
Were there any unusual events during the study? Did participants drop from the research? Why?	No, no unusual event. Participants did not drop the study, it had facts.
How do the results fit in with previous research in this area? Do the studies build upon previous research?	According to the study, 75% did not have knowledge which is confirmed by other sources as they suggested educating pregnant women to create anemia awareness. Yes, it does.
What are the implications of the research for clinical practice? Is the study relevant and important to the clinical question? Are the results applicable to your set or subset of patients or sample? Identifythe risks and benefits of a treatment recommendation or conform to patient preferences. What are the findings as reported by the researcher?	The research implies that nurses should educate pregnant women on anemia during their clinical visits. The article is relevant to the clinical question. Yes, the results are applicable, and the recommendation will benefit pregnant women as they will be aware of what they eat. Do results show that 75% did not have knowledge of anemia?

Aboud, S. A. E. H., El Sayed, H. A. E., & Ibrahim, H. A. F. (2019). Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding prevention of iron deficiency Anemia among pregnant women in Tabuk region. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research & Allied Sciences, 8(2).
Elements for Analysis	Review Findings
Why was the study done? What is the problem as it is presented in the research study article? Will the study solve a problem relevant to nursing? (Make sure that the study is directly relevant to your topic/ and or clinical question.)	The study aims to evaluate knowledge among pregnant women concerning anemia. The problem question is to evaluate the pregnant women’s knowledge of anemiaYes, the study aims to solve a problem relevant to nursing
What is the study setting?	The article studies pregnant women in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2019.
What is the sample size? What was the process for randomization?	The sample size is 396 women The process of randomization used was through probability sampling
Are instruments of the variables in the study clearly defined and reliable? What are the independent and dependent variables in this study? Are the operational definitions of the variables given? If so, are they concrete and measurable? Is the research question or the hypothesis stated? What is it?	Yes, the research variables are clearly stated and well-defined. The study only uses a dependent variable which is a blood sample that is measurable. No. The research question is “what is the level of knowledge about anemia among pregnant women?”
How were the data analyzed?	SPSS was used.
Were there any unusual events during the study? Did participants drop from the research? Why?	No, there were no unusual events. No participant dropped from the research.
How do the results fit in with previous research in this area? Do the studies build upon previous research?	The results are similar to the previous case stating that most pregnant women are unaware of anemia. Yes, it is based on previous studies.
What are the implications of the research for clinical practice? Is the study relevant and important to the clinical question? Are the results applicable to your set or subset of patients or samples? Identifythe risks and benefits of a treatment recommendation or conform to patient preferences. What are the findings as reported by the researcher?	The research implies that nurses should educate pregnant women on anemia during their clinical visits. Yes, the study is relevant to the clinical question. Yes, the results are applicable, and the recommendation will benefit pregnant women as they will be aware of what they eat. The findings are that 73.2% were unaware of anemia.

Bansal, R., Bedi, M., Kaur, J., Kaur, K., Shergill, H. K., Khaira, H. K., & Suri, V. (2020). Prevalence and factors associated with anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic. Adesh University Journal of Medical Sciences & Research, 2(1), 42-48.
Elements for Analysis	Review Findings
Why was the study done? What is the problem as it is presented in the research study article? Will the study solve a problem relevant to nursing?	The study investigates the prevalence of anemia and its risk factors. The research problem is the prevalence level and factors associated with anemia in pregnant women. Yes, the study provides valid information on how to handle a nursing problem (anemia).
What is the study setting?	It studied pregnant women in India in 2019.
What is the sample size? What was the process for randomization?	The sample size is 500 pregnant women. The sample was done with the help of simple randomization.
Are the instruments of the variables in the study clearly defined and reliable? What are the independent and dependent variables in this study? Are the operational definitions of the variables given? If so, are they concrete and measurable? Is the research question or the hypothesis stated? What is it?	Yes, they are. The independent variable are the blood samples which is measurable. The dependent variable is lifestyle questions which are concreteNo, they are not provided. The research question is stated. It states, what are the factors that determine the prevalence and factors associated with anemia in pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at our tertiary care center?
How were the data analyzed?	The data were analyzed using the Chi-square test.
Were there any unusual events during the study? (If the sample size changed, do the reasons for the change have ramifications on its replicability?) Did participants drop from the research? Why?	There was no unusual event. There were no cases of dropping of participants.
How do the results fit in with previous research in this area? (Compare to your other sources.) Do the studies build upon previous research?	The results are similar to other articles where most of the pregnant women lacked awareness and it was the main reason why anemia rates were high. No, it does not build from previous research.
What are the implications of the research for clinical practice? Is the study relevant and important to the clinical question? Are the results applicable to your set or subset of patients or samples? Identifythe risks and benefits of a treatment recommendation or conform to patient preferences. What are the findings as reported by the researcher?	It implies that nurses should educate women on how to prevent anemia. Yes, it is relevant to the clinical questionThere was no risk to the samples, but it benefited them as they were able to know their iron levels. The findings are that 74.8% had no intake of iron-folic acid tablets as they lacked knowledge on it.

Summarization

Anemia in pregnancy is a common factor associated with the risk of fetal, maternal, and neonatal mortality imparted cognitive development and poor pregnancy outcome. For this reason, researchers have invested their resources to assess the factors and prevalence linked with anemia among pregnant women. The essay will have a cross-sectional examination of four articles and outline their similarities and differences to examine this topic.

Similarities

To begin with, the four articles agree that anemia is a common public health problem in developing countries. The articles took countries like Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, India, and Bangladesh as their case study, all developing countries. In Dhaka in Saudi Arabia, 65% of the pregnant were affected, and the first trimester period had the highest at 46.7% (Bansal et al., 2020). In Tanzania, anemia was common among 57% of pregnant women and 46% of breastfeeding (Lyoba et al., 2020). In Saudi Arabia, anemia is high in pregnant women at 42% and 30% in no pregnant women. In India, 80% of maternal death is due to anemia (Aboud, El Sayed, & Ibrahim, 2019).

Another similarity is that they consider iron deficiency as the leading cause of anemia. A deficiency of iron during pregnancy reduces fetal iron, especially within the first year. The result of the iron shortage, the case studies state, is due to bad food habits and social-economic conditions such as lack of funds that enable them to acquire adequate food. The lack of iron causes low birth weight among babies, premature labor, prenatal mortality, increased risk of maternal mortality, and intrauterine growth retardation.

In addition, all case studies have programs that help in lowering the anemia population. A pregnant woman requires approximately 900mg of iron, where 500 is consumed by the features, and the rest is lost within the mother (Bansal et al., 2020). Hence, they all agree that women need to take adequate iron. In India, the government has a program that provides pregnant women with iron supplements throughout the journey. Similarly, the Tanzania women are provided with Folic acid and iron supplements for at least six months which has lowered the anemia cases in the region. India focuses on educating women on healthy eating habits and lifestyle patterns which creates awareness and an efficient way in the long term.

Differences

The Tanzania case study had a different opinion on why pregnancy is high among pregnant women. It states that women are more vulnerable as they are prone to biological changes such as menstrual periods (Lyoba et al., 2020). They also lack knowledge of proper eating habits and gender inequalities. Women are in high demand for micronutrients, especially iron, due to the growth of the fetus and metabolism.

According to the Saudi Arabia case study, the article has a more elaborate and different opinion. It states that anemia during pregnancy is caused by the lack of red blood cells functioning, which leads to a decrease in the ability for oxygen circulation, causing complications such as fainting, fatigue, depression, hair loss, headaches, emotional stability, and pallor (Sultana et al., 2019). In addition, the article assesses the type of anemia found in pregnant women in which 64% had hypochromic anemia, 28.8% had normal microcytic hypochromic anemia, which is a result of lack of iron, and 7% was due to normocytic anemia (Sultana et al., 2019).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the four articles answer our research question on factors associated with anemia among pregnant women. They had a similar opinion that anemia is caused by iron deficiency and is most common in countries like Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, India, and Bangladesh. However, one article had the notion that other than anemia, it might also be caused by the lack of red blood cells functioning and that pregnant women mainly get hypochromic anemia which is different from non-pregnant women.

References

Aboud, S. A. E. H., El Sayed, H. A. E., & Ibrahim, H. A. F. (2019). Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding prevention of iron deficiency Amenia among pregnant women in Tabuk region. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research & Allied Sciences, 8(2). Web.

Bansal, R., Bedi, M., Kaur, J., Kaur, K., Shergill, H. K., Khaira, H. K., & Suri, V. (2020). Prevalence and factors associated with anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic. Adesh University Journal of Medical Sciences & Research, 2(1), 42-48. Web.

Lyoba, W. B., Mwakatoga, J. D., Festo, C., Mrema, J., & Elisaria, E. (2020). Adherence to iron-folic acid supplementation and associated factors among pregnant women in Kasulu communities in north-western Tanzania. International Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 2020. Web.

Sultana, F., Ara, G., Akbar, T., & Sultana, R. (2019). Knowledge about Anemia among pregnant women in tertiary hospital. Medicine Today, 31(2), 105-110. Web.