Does Intestinal Parasite Infection Causes Anemia among Pregnant Women in Ethiopia

Objective: The aim of this systemic review and meta-analysis was to examine the relationship between intestinal parasitic infection and anemia among pregnant women in Ethiopia. We include six studies in different regions of Ethiopia. We have done this study focusing on intestinal parasitic infection.

Materials and Methods: The databases searched were PUBMED and Advanced Google Scholar. on reference manager software reporting intestinal parasitic infection and anemia among pregnant women . Three researchers were carried out the data extraction and assessed independently the articles for inclusion in the review using risk-of-bias tool guided by PRISMA checklist. The combined adjusted Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using random effect model.

Results: Six observational studies involving 2838 participants, 557 pregnant women who have anemia were included. The combined effect size (OR) for anemia comparing pregnant women who have intestinal parasitic infection versus pregnant women women who did not have intestinal parasitic infection was 3.74 (ORMH=3.74, 95% CI 2.58-5.43) Heterogeneity: Tau²=0.13; Chi²=13.11, df=5 (P =0.02); I²=62% Test for overall effect: Z5=6.94 (P < 0.00001). No publication bias was observed (Egger’s test: p=0.074, Begg’s test: p=0.091). 23.99% (681) pregnant women have intestinal parasitic infection during current pregnancy. In all studies, the proportion of anemia among pregnant women who have intestinal parasitic infection during current pregnancy was 227 (33.33%).

Conclusions: The likelihood of anemia among pregnant women is approximately four times higher among pregnant women who had intestinal parasitic infection than who did not have the infection in Ethiopia.