Prevalence of anemia and related factors among Tabari cohort population: a cross-sectional study

Anemia presents a considerable public health challenge, standing as a leading contributor to elevated rates of mortality and morbidity. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of anemia and related factors among Tabari cohort population.

This study involved a cross-sectional investigation carried out during the enrollment phase of the Tabari cohort. The Tabari cohort is a subset of the larger nationwide cohort study known as the "Prospective Epidemiological Research Studies in IrAN" (PERSIAN) cohort. The collected data included general information, anthropometric measurements, medical history and blood samples. Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin level less than 13 mg/dL for men and less than 12 mg/dL for women. Data were analyzed using SPSS V.16.

Out of the 10,073 participants included in the analysis, 1,352 individuals (13.4%) were diagnosed with anemia. In the multiple regression analysis, the odds of anemia were significantly 2.31 times in females compared to males, 3.69 times in urban residents compared to rural residents, 1.41 times in social economic categories of IV and 1.35 in social economic categories of V compared to social economic categories of I, 1.70 times in drug abuse compared to non-drug abuse, 0.71 times in body mass index (BMI) categories of 25-29.9 kg/m² and 0.70 in BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² compared to BMI < 25, 0.77 times for triglycerides(TG) > 150 compared to below 150, 0.76 times for total cholesterol(TC) > 200 compared to below 200, 0.83 times for high waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) compared to low WHR, 1.33 times in low High-density Lipoprotein (HDL) compared to high HDL, 1.18 times in diabetics (DM) compared to non-DM, and 1.37 times in individuals with coronary heart diseases (CHD) compared to healthy individuals.

Anemia was a prevalent condition among Tabari cohort population. Several conditions including female gender, urban residence, Social economic level of IV and V, drug abuse, low HDL, high WHR, DM, and CHD conditions were significantly associated with increased odds of anemia. Furthermore, BMI categories of 25-29.9 kg/m² and ≥ 30 kg/m², high TC and high TG were significantly associated with decreased odds of anemia among this population.