PREVALENCE OF ANEMIA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ABO BLOOD GROUP SYSTEM AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN VISITING ADISHIHU PRIMARY HOSPITAL, EMBA ALAJE WEREDA, SOUTHERN TIGRAY ZONE, TIGRAY NATIONAL REGIONA

The frequency of ABO blood groups vary geographically, ethnically and from one population to another. Some variations may even occur within one ethnic group. Anemia is a global public health problem affecting both developing and developed countries with major consequences for human health as well as social and economic development. The general objective of present study was to determine and evaluate the relationships between ABO blood type system and anemia among pregnant women visiting Adishihu Primary Hospital, Emba Alaje Wereda, Southern Tigray Zone, Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia. . A Crosssectional study design was used to collect data from pregnant women who visited the hospital for antenatal care follow-up from January 2018 to May 2018. ABO blood typing was done using open slide methods, where a drop of blood sample from a pregnant women by sterile finger pricks and placed the blood sample on clean and dry slide and determined the types of blood groups using a drop of anti-A and anti-B. Hemoglobin concentration was tested using a HemoCue HB 201 machine. The result was read immediately after at least five minutes. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of anemia with their corresponding 95% CI were computed to see the strength of relationships. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The majority, 170 (40.28%), of the pregnant women were within the age range of 27–36, 137 of the pregnant women, (32.23%), were within the age range of 15-26 and 115 of the pregnant women, (27.25%), were above 37 years. Pregnant women with blood type O accounts large number, which was 134 (30.7%), followed by blood type A, blood type B and blood type AB in which their percentage distribution was, 128 (30.4%), 100 (23.7%), and 60 (14.2%) respectively in an order of O > A > B > AB. One hundred seventy eight (42.2%) pregnant women were anemic, while the rest two hundred forty four (57.8%) were non-anemic. Out of the 178 anemic pregnant women, blood group A has the highest frequency and blood group O the lowest frequency in an order of A>B>AB>O (43.8,30.4,20.2 and 5.6) respectively. From the 178 anemic women 43.8 %( 78) were blood type-A, of which, 10.7 %( 19/178), 3.9 %( 7/178) and 29.2 %( 52/178) were mild, moderate and severe anemic respectively. In case of blood type-B, 15.7% (28/178), 14.1 %( 25/178), and 0.6% (1/178) were mild, moderate and severe anemic respectively. For blood type-AB, also shown that, 10.1 %( 18/178), 7.3 %( 13/178) and 2.8 %( 5/178) were mild, moderate and severe anemic respectively. For blood type-O also had 2.2 %( 4/178), 2.8 %( 5/178) and 0.6 %( 1/178) were mild, moderate and severe anemic respectively. Of those anemic pregnant women, A blood type 78 (18.24%) were significantly related with anemia AOR= 28.03 (95% CI 14.202-70.150) at p- value < 0.001. than individuals with type O blood. Pregnant women with blood type A, B and AB are more prone to anemia. It is recommended that health centers must check the blood type of the pregnant women to administer drugs.