Anaemia and associated factors among the Bengali Muslims of Cachar district in Assam, India

Abstract

Present study is an effort to observe the prevalence of anaemia with reference to age, education and income among the Bengali Muslims of Cachar District of Assam, India. The data have been collected by household census method and colour scale for haemoglobin among 362 Bengali Muslims (male-183, female-179) of 15 to 79 years of age from Ganganagar Part-I and Bhaurikandi Part-II village of Cachar District. The study reveals that half (50.0%) of the adult Bengali Muslim population is prone to different grades of anaemia. 20.7% of them are found to have mild anaemia; but a major proportion (27.1%) of them are suffering from moderate anaemia and 2.2% of them are found to be severely anaemic. Prevalence of anaemia is found to be significantly high (p-0.001) among the Bengali Muslim females (60.3%) compared to their male counterparts (39.9%). Anaemia is found to be more prevalent in older age groups in comparison to younger age groups of the community. Prevalence of anaemia decreases with the increase of educational status and per capita monthly income in the community. The interaction of different factors like age, education, income and overall socio-economic condition may have influenced the anaemic situation in the community.

Keywords

• Bengali Muslims,Cachar,Anaemia,Age,Education,Income

References

1. Ahmad N, Kalakoti P, Bano R, Arif SMM. (2010) The prevalence of anemia and associated factors in pregnant women in a rural Indian community. Australas Med J 3(5):276-280.