Anaemia among lactating and non-lactating women in low-income and middle-income countries: a comparative cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of anaemia among lactating and non-lactating women in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). DESIGN: Comparative cross-sectional study. SETTING: LMICs. PARTICIPANTS: Reproductive-age women. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Anaemia. METHODS: Data for the study were drawn from the recent 46 LMICs Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). A total of 185 330 lactating and 827 501 non-lactating women (both are non-pregnant) who gave birth in the last 5 years preceding the survey were included. STATA V.16 was used to clean, code and analyse the data. Multilevel multivariable logistic regression was employed to identify factors associated with anaemia. In the adjusted model, the adjusted OR with 95% CI and a p value <0.05 was reported to indicate statistical association. RESULT: The prevalence of anaemia among lactating and non-lactating women was found at 50.95% (95% CI 50.72, 51.17) and 49.33% (95% CI 49.23%, 49.44%), respectively. Maternal age, mother’s educational status, wealth index, family size, media exposure, residence, pregnancy termination, source of drinking water and contraceptive usage were significantly associated determinants of anaemia in both lactating and non-lactating women. Additionally, the type of toilet facility, antenatal care visit, postnatal care visit, iron supplementation and place of delivery were factors significantly associated with anaemia in lactating women. Besides, smoking was significantly associated with anaemia in non-lactating women. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The prevalence of anaemia was higher in lactating women compared with non-lactating. Almost half of the lactating and non-lactating women were anaemic. Both individual-level and community-level factors were significantly associated with anaemia. Governments, non-governmental organisations, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders are recommended to primarily focus on disadvantageous communities where their knowledge, purchasing power, access to healthcare facilities, access to clean drinking water and clean toilet facilities are minimal.