Table 2.
Clinical and sociodemographic characteristics and associations with any-type anemia (mild, moderate, or severe) by sex for a sample of adults from rural Tamil Nadu, India.
| Characteristic | Men (n = 341) | Women (n = 412) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | Crude OR, any-type anemia (95% CI) | n (%) | Crude OR, any-type anemia (95% CI) | |
| Anemia status (Hb concentration) | ||||
| Healthy (men/women: ≥130/≥120 g/L) | 221 (64.8) | Ref | 176 (42.7) | Ref |
| Mild anemia (men/women: 110-129/110-119 g/L) | 75 (22.0) | NA | 74 (18.0) | NA |
| Moderate anemia (80-109 g/L) | 37(10.9) | NA | 148 (35.9) | NA |
| Severe anemia (<80 g/L) | 8 (2.3) | NA | 14 (3.4) | NA |
|
| ||||
| Family size | ||||
| ≤2 | 42 (12.3) | Ref | 83 (20.1) | Ref |
| 3-5 | 214 (62.8) | 0.50 (0.3, 1.0)∗∗ | 239 (58.0) | 0.7 (0.4, 1.2) |
| >5 | 85 (24.9) | 0.40 (0.2, 0.9)∗∗ | 90 (21.8) | 0.9 (0.5, 1.7) |
|
| ||||
| Age categories | ||||
| 20-35 | 84 (24.6) | Ref | 125 (30.3) | Ref |
| 36-60 | 186 (54.5) | 3.0 (1.5, 5.8)∗∗∗ | 220 (53.4) | 1.08 (0.7, 1.7) |
| >60 | 71.0 (20.8) | 8.4 (3.9, 18.0)∗∗∗ | 67 (16.3) | 1.03 (0.6, 1.9) |
|
| ||||
| BMI categories (kg/m2) | ||||
| Normal weight (≥18.5 & <23) | 139 (40.8) | Ref | 162 (39.3) | Ref |
| Underweight (<18.5) | 84 (24.6) | 2.3 (1.3, 4.1)∗∗∗ | 85 (20.6) | 1.1 (0.6, 1.8) |
| Overweight (≥23 & <25) | 56 (16.4) | 1.9 (1.0, 3.8)∗∗ | 62 (15.0) | 0.9 (0.5, 1.7) |
| Obese (≥25) | 62 (18.2) | 1.4 (0.7, 2.7) | 103 (25.0) | 1.1 (0.7, 1.8) |
|
| ||||
| Stunted (height for men/women: <150.5 cm/<139.1 cm) | 14 (4.1) | 1.6 (1.0, 2.5) | 6 (1.5) | 1.4 (0.3, 7.7) |
|
| ||||
| Tobacco use (paan and/or smoking) | 169 (49.6) | 1.1 (0.7, 1.7) | 128 (31.1) | 0.5 (0.4, 0.7) |
|
| ||||
| Education | ||||
| Illiterate | 174 (51.0) | Ref | 315 (76.5) | Ref |
| Literate but did not complete primary school | 94 (27.6) | 0.7 (0.4, 1.3) | 48 (11.7) | 0.9 (0.5, 1.6) |
| Finished primary school | 59 (17.3) | 0.5 (0.3, 1.0)∗∗ | 46 (11.2) | 0.7 (0.4, 1.3)∗ |
| Finished secondary school | 14 (4.1) | 1.3 (0.4, 4.0) | 3 (0.7) | 1.5 (1.2, 1.9) |
|
| ||||
| Primary occupation† | ||||
| Subsistence/small-scale agriculture producer or labourer | 211 (61.9) | Ref | 314 (76.2) | Ref |
| Commercial agriculture producer | 48 (14.1) | 1.0 (0.5, 1.9) | 27 (6.6) | 0.5 (0.2, 1.1)∗ |
| Entrepreneur, business employee, or civil servant | 39 (11.4) | 0.8 (0.4, 1.6) | 25 (6.1) | 1.7 (0.69, 4.2) |
| MGNREGA‡ | 4 (1.2) | 3.2 (0.3, 35.8) | 14 (3.4) | 1.8 (0.5, 5.7) |
| Migrant labour | 4 (11.7) | 0.40 (0.2, 0.9)∗∗ | 32 (7.8) | 0.9 (0.4, 1.9) |
|
| ||||
| Wealth index (by tertile) | ||||
| Low | 108 (31.7) | Ref | 200 (48.5) | Ref |
| Middle | 112 (32.8) | 0.7 (0.4, 1.2) | 121 (29.4) | 0.5 (0.3, 0.9)∗∗ |
| High | 121 (35.5) | 0.6 (0.4, 1.1)∗ | 91 (22.1) | 0.8 (0.5, 1.3) |
|
| ||||
| Caste | ||||
| Low | 43 (12.6) | Ref | 52 (12.6) | Ref |
| Middle | 271 (79.4) | 1.7 (0.8, 3.5)∗ | 315 (76.4) | 0.8 (0.5, 1.5) |
| High | 27 (7.9) | 1.8 (1.1, 2.5)∗∗ | 45 (10.9) | 1.4 (0.6, 3.3) |
|
| ||||
| Religion | ||||
| Hindu | 327 (95.9) | Ref | 386 (9.4) | Ref |
| Christian | 4 (1.2) | 0.6 (0.1, 5.8) | 8 (1.9) | 2.0 (0.4, 10.4) |
| Muslim | 10 (2.9) | 1.2 (0.3, 4.3) | 18 (4.4) | 0.4 (0.2, 1.2) |
NA: not applicable, predictor perfectly predicts outcome; Ref: referent category.
∗P<0.2; ∗∗P<0.05; ∗∗∗P<0.01 .
†Primary occupation defined as the income- or livelihood-generating activity that takes up most amount of time.
‡Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act Scheme.