Background: Anaemia during pregnancy remains a significant public health problem in India, contributing to maternal morbidity, mortality and adverse birth outcomes. Rajasthan has one of the highest burdens of maternal anaemia; however, comparative data between urban and rural populations within the same district remain limited. Materials and Methods: A community-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2014 to June 2014 among 200 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at one urban and one rural health training centre of R.N.T. Medical College, Udaipur. Pregnant women with gestational age ≥12 weeks were included through consecutive sampling. Haemoglobin levels were measured using the World Health Organization-recommended colour scale, and anaemia was classified according to the ICMR guidelines. Results: The overall prevalence of anaemia was 70.5%, with a significantly higher burden among rural women (78%) than among urban women (63%) ( P = 0.020; odds ratio OR = 1.68, 95% confidence interval: 1.1–2.6). Severe anaemia was six times more common in rural women (6% vs. 1%, P = 0.040). Anaemia was strongly associated with multigravidity (100% vs. 45.4%, P < 0.001), lower socio-economic status (84.1% vs. 60.8%, P < 0.001), lower literacy (78.8% vs. 37.5%, P < 0.001) and short birth intervals (<24 months) (89.7% vs. 52.9%, P < 0.001). Advancing maternal age was significantly correlated with increasing anaemia severity ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: Anaemia remains highly prevalent among pregnant women in Udaipur, with a disproportionately greater burden in rural areas. Interventions should prioritise strengthening rural antenatal care, promoting compliance with iron–folic acid supplementation, providing targeted nutritional counselling for high-risk groups and enhancing female literacy and socio-economic empowerment.
Sharma et al. (Thu,) studied this question.