Anemia in Sakon Nakhon Province

PORNCHAI CHANNGAM, M.D.*, SURASAK THUMPENJIT, B.Sc. (Med. Tech.)**, PARANEE KOOW AT ANASIRI, B.Nursing, M.P.H.***

Affiliation : * Division of Pediatrics, ** Division of Clinical Pathology, *** Academic Division, Sakon Nakhon Hospital, Sakon Nakhon 47000, Thailand.

AbstractThe study of anemia in Sakon Nakhon province during the period of 1996-1997 was conducted by a multistage random sampling in a population aged 1-90 years in ten villages. The prevalence of anemia was 15.29 per cent (14.5 per cent in children under 15 years, 14.4 per cent between 15-60 years and 34.3 per cent in those over 60 years). The prevalence of anemia in males and females was not statistically different. The mean level of hematocrit and hemoglobin was 39.9 ± 4.6 per cent and 13.2 ± 1.4 g. per cent. About 28.3 per cent of the studied population had under- nutrition. This finding showed that the nutritional status could be statistically linked to anemia, while parasitic infestation had no effect on the rate of anemia, most probably the worm load in the cases infected was rather low. Nutritional anemia and thalassemia are also common causes of anemia in Sakon Nakhon. Thus, we proposed that the public health programme should focus on preven- tive activities to reduce thalassemia hemoglobinopathy and the rate of undernutrition to solve the problem of anemia in Thailand.

Keywords : Anemia, Thai Population, Sakon Nakhon Province

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