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. 2008 Mar 18;5:1. doi: 10.1186/1742-4755-5-1

Table 4.

Health among pregnant women and care used, overall and by age group, Gem, western Kenya, 2003

Total Age group (years)
N (%) < 20 20–29 ≥ 30
Malaria* 241 (35.9) 63 (51.2) 134 (37.1) 44 (23.4) †
Anaemia (Hb < 11 g/dl) 355 (52.8) 68 (55.3) 192 (53.2) 95 (50.3)
Severe anaemia (Hb < 8 g/dl) 59 (8.8) 7 (5.7) 33 (9.1) 19 (10.1)
Low BMI* 131 (19.6) 11 (8.9) 85 (23.7) 35 (18.5) †
MUAC < 22 cm 17 (2.5) 2 (1.6) 10 (2.8) 5 (2.7)
Geohelminth infection* 297 (76.2) 54 (76.1) 146 (75.3) 97 (77.6)
Oral thrush or herpes zoster in the last 2 months 108 (16.1) 17 (13.8) 70 (19.4) 21 (11.1) †
Complaint in previous 2 weeks of:
 Fever 421 (62.6) 68 (55.3) 231 (64.0) 122 (64.6)
 Cough 385 (57.2) 63 (51.2) 217 (60.1) 105 (55.6)
 Diarrhoea 124 (18.4) 25 (20.3) 61 (16.9) 38 (20.1)


Care during pregnancy
ANC started 277 (41.2) 58 (47.2) 162 (44.9) 57 (30.2) †
Bed net in house 509 (75.6) 77 (62.6) 261 (72.3) 171 (90.5) †
Used ITN 465 (69.1) 64 (52.0) 239 (66.2) 162 (85.7) †

Abbreviations: Hb, haemoglobin; BMI, body mass index; MUAC, mid-upper arm circumference; ANC, antenatal clinic; ITN: insecticide treated net.

* Blood smear not available for 1 woman (0.1%); BMI missing for 3 women (0.4%); stool result not available for 283 women (42.1%)

† Chi-square test: P < 0.05