Magnitude, Associated Factors and Morphological Types of Anemia Among Hospitalized 6-59 Months Age Children at Jimma Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia - A Hospital-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Anemia is among the major public health problems that cause significant morbidity and mortality among children around the world. Anemia in children of age 6 months to 5 years is a major health problem in most developing world countries with estimated prevalence of about 43%.

Objective: To determine the magnitude, associated factors and morphological types of anemia among hospitalized 6-59 months age children from June 15 to October 15, 2022 at Jimma Medical Center, southwest Ethiopia.

Methodology: Hospital-based cross- sectional study design was conducted from June 15 to October 15, 2022 at Jimma Medical Center, involving 383 hospitalized children aged 6-59 months by employing convenient sampling technique. Data of sociodemographic characteristics and other associated factors of the study individuals waere collected using a pre-structured questionnaire. Clinical data were collected by physical examination and from history of client by medical interns and nurses. Then 3 mL venous blood was collected and analyzed for complete blood count. Data were coded, cleared and entered into EpiData version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression was used to identify associated factors.

Results: The overall prevalence of anemia among hospitalized 6-59 months age children was 57.2%; out of them 30.82% were moderate. In the present study children with malaria infection, AOR = 1.15 (95% CI: 0.017, 0.781), Cchildren with severe malnutrition, AOR = 2.046 (95% CI: 0.306, 1.366), and children with low family income, AOR = 2.6 (95% CI 0.475, 0.894) were independent variables associated with anemia.

Conclusion and recommendation: Anemia among study participants is found to be a severe public health problem. Based on this finding, more intervention is needed with health education on nutrition and child feeding.