Skip to main content

Table 4 Factors associated with childhood anemia severity in multivariable POM considering anemic status as outcome variable with three ordered categories

From: Anemia severity among children aged 6–59 months in Gondar town, Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

Variable Categories Anemic status and severity level(n(%)) Bivariable POM Analysis Multivariable POM analysis
Severe or moderate anemia (n(%)) Mild anemia (n(%)) No anemia cPOR (95%CI) p-value aPOR (95%CI) p-value
Age of child (months) 6–11 18 (24.3) 18 (24.3) 38 (51.4) 10.20 (4.81, 21.71) < 0.001 13.9 (5.5, 35.02) < 0.001
12–23 30 (16.6) 45 (24.9) 106 (58.6) 7.17 (3.56, 14.24) < 0.001 8.53 (3.8, 19.18) < 0.001
24–35 20 (11.5) 27 (15.5) 127 (73.0) 3.88 (1.92, 7.82) < 0.001 4.77 (1.67, 10.04) < 0.001
36–47 7 (4.5) 26 (16.8) 122 (78.7) 2.67 (1.29, 5.55) 0.008 3.58 (1.67, 7.65) 0.001
48–59 3 (2.4) 8 (6.5) 112 (91.1) 1.00   1.00  
Maternal age < 25 years 19 (11.5) 41 (24.8) 105 (63.6) 1.51 (1.04, 2.19) 0.032 0.94 (0.60, 1.47) 0.7794
> 35 years 7 (9.2) 13 (17.1) 56 (73.7) 0.98 (0.57, 1.69) 0.943 0.92 (0.49, 1.74) 0.806
25–35 years 52 (11.2) 70 (15) 344 (73.8) 1.00   1.00  
Maternal education No formal education 27 (12.3) 42 (19.1) 151 (68.6) 1.57 (1.06, 2.34) 0.025 1.19 (0.72, 1.96) 0.489
Primary education 27 (12.9) 44 (21) 139 (66.2) 1.74 (1.17, 2.59) 0.006 1.71 (1.10, 2.65) 0.017
Secondary and above 24 (8.7) 38 (13.7) 215 (77.6) 1.00   1.00  
ANC visits Never visited 10 (21.3) 12 (25.5) 25 (53.2) 2.23 (1.06, 4.69) 0.035 1.42 (0.59, 3.39) 0.433
1–4 time visited 59 (10.0) 101 (17.2) 428 (72.8) 0.94 (0.55, 1.61) 0.831 0.72 (0.39, 1.31) 0.281
More than 4 times visited 9 (12.5) 11 (15.3) 52 (72.2) 1.00   1.00  
Child’s birth place At home 26 (17.9) 29 (20.0) 90 (62.1) 1.8 (1.23, 11.99) 0.002 1.64 (1.3, 2.61) 0.038
At health institution 52 (9.3) 95 (16.9) 145 (73.8) 1.00   1.00  
Frequency of Complementary feeding < 3 times per day 7 (25.9) 7 (25.9) 13 (48.1) 2.68 (1.22, 5.92) 0.015 2.46 (1.02, 5.77) 0.003
3–4 times per day 57 (10.5) 90 (16.9) 394 (72.8) 0.91 (0.61, 1.37) 0.853 1.51 (0.94, 2.43) 0.181
>  4 times per day 14 (10.1) 27 (19.4) 98 (70.5) 1.00   1.00  
Loss of appetite Yes 17 (12.1) 34 (24.3) 89 (63.6) 1.51 (1.02, 2.20) 0.039 1.14 (0.74, 1.75) 0.554
No 61 (10.8) 90 (15.9) 416 (73.4) 1.00   1.00  
Presence of morbidity symptom Yes 18 (11.8) 38 (25.0) 96 (63.2) 1.54 (1.06, 11.60) 0.025 1.46 (0.83, 2.58) 0.191
No 60 (10.8) 86 (15.5) 409 (73.7) 1.00   1.00  
Child being breastfed Yes 52 (17.3) 71 (23.6) 178 (59.1) 2.88 (2.08, 4.01) < 0.001 1.24 (0.76, 2.03) 0.382
No 26 (6.4) 53 (13.1) 327 (80.5) 1.00   1.00  
Presence of Diarrhea Yes 8 (9.6) 23 (27.7) 52 (62.7) 1.43 (0.89, 2.30) 0.135 0.64 (0.31, 1.31) 0.222
No 70 (11.2) 101 (16.2) 453 (72.6) 1.00   1.00  
Preceding birth interval 12–24 months 10 (12) 16 (19.3) 57 (68.7) 1.04 (0.62, 1.75) 0.882 1.0 (0.52, 1.92) 0.9963
25–48 months 20 (13.4) 24 (16.1) 105 (70.5) 0.99 (0.65, 1.51) 0.949 0.76 (0.42, 1.35) 0.346
> 48 months 17 (9.1) 26 (14.0) 143 (76.9) 0.69 (0.46, 1.05) 0.087 0.71 (0.40, 1.24) 0.231
First child 31 (10.7) 58 (20.1) 200 (69.1) 1.00   1.00  
Maternal marital status Unmarried* 13 (14.8) 18 (20.5) 57 (64.8) 1.43 (0.90, 2.28) 0.126 1.8 (1.07, 3.03) 0.026
Married 65 (10.5) 106 (17.1) 448 (72.4) 1.00   1.00  
Pre-lactal feeding Yes 8 (13.8) 13 (22.4) 37 (63.8) 1.44 (0.83, 2.50) 0.194 1.33 (0.71, 2.46) 0.37
No 70 (10.8) 111 (17.1) 468 (72.1) 1.00   1.00  
Family monthly income <$108 54 (12.1) 88 (19.7) 308 (68.2) 1.54 (1.09, 2.18) 0.015 1.35 (0.91, 2.01) 0.136
≥$108 24 (9.2) 36 (13.8) 201 (77.0) 1.00   1.00  
Family size > 5 17 (11.9)_ 26 (18.2) 100 (69.9) 0.95 (0.61, 1.47) 0.819 1.51 (0.83, 2.77) 0.179
  4–5 33 (10.5) 47 (15.0) 234 (74.5) 0.84 (0.53, 1.10) 0.145 1.16 (0.71, 1.90) 0.562
  < 4 28 (11.2) 51 (20.4) 171 (68.4) 1.00   1.00  
  1. The outcome variable, anemia, was classified in three ordered categories as 0 = no anemia, 1 = Mild anemia, and 2 = Moderate or Severe anemia; The reference category of each independent variables was set last during analysis; aPOR: adjusted Proportional Odds Ratio; cPOR: crude Proportional Odds Ratio; CI: confidence Interval; POM: Proportional Odds Model; Unmarried*: includes single, divorced and widowed
  2. Model fitness information: Test of parallel lines for the proportional odds assumption: Chi-square = 19.123, df = 25, p-value = 0.791; Goodness-of-fit test of overall model: Pearson Chi-square = 1275.797, df = 1225, p-value = 0.152, Pseudo R2 = 0.182
Back to article page

Italian Journal of Pediatrics

ISSN: 1824-7288

Contact us