Prevalence and associated factors of anaemia and iron-deficiency anaemia among adolescent Sudanese schoolchildren: a cross-sectional study

Anaemia among adolescents is a worldwide health problem; however, data on anaemia among adolescents in Sudan are scarce. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of anaemia and iron-deficiency anaemia among adolescent schoolchildren in northern Sudan. Socio-demographic information was collected using a questionnaire. A total of 309 adolescents (52.4% female and 47.6% male) were enrolled in the study. Seventy-five (24.3%) adolescents had anaemia, and none had severe anaemia. In the multivariate analysis, history of pica adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.31-4.02 was associated with increased odds of anaemia, and an increased level of serum ferritin (AOR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.95-0.99) was associated with decreased odds of anaemia. Of the adolescents, 189 (61.2%) and 55 (17.8%) had iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anaemia, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, being female (AOR = 3.13, 95% CI = 1.88-5.23) and having a history of pica (AOR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.03-3.31) were associated with increased odds of iron deficiency. This study showed a high prevalence of anaemia and iron-deficiency anaemia among adolescents in this part of Sudan, which was associated with a history of pica.