Prevalence of Anemia among Nursing Students

Anaemia is considered a severe public health problem by World Health Organization when anaemia prevalence is equal to or greater than 40% in the population 1. The prevalence of anaemia in developing countries is three to four times higher than in industrialized countries 2. Adolescence is one of the most vulnerable periods in human life cycle where nutritional requirements increases due to the adolescent growth spurt. Anaemia is thus a frequent problem among adolescents, hence the prevalence of which may be particularly high in nursing students too.

To study the prevalence of Anaemia using Sahli's Haemoglobinometer among students of Krishna Institute of Nursing Sciences, Karad.

A Descriptive Survey Design was used to collect data from B.Sc. Nursing Students of Krishna Institute of Nursing Sciences, Karad. Purposive sampling technique was used to get a sample of 280 subjects. Data was collected using structured questionnaire for demographic data and Sahli's haemoglobinometer for haemoglobin estimation. Consent was obtained from the principal of the college and each subject. The results were calculated using descriptive and inferential statistics.

In this study haemoglobin estimation was done by Sahli's method. From 280 samples, 161 students had low Hb levels, in which 152 were girls and 9 were boys and are assumed to have anemia.

From the study it can be concluded that more than half of the B.Sc. Nursing students of Krishna Institute of Nursing Sciences have less than normal Hemoglobin levels which indicate anemia.