The Link Between Indoor Air Pollution From Cooking Fuels and Anemia Status Among Non-pregnant Women of Reproductive Age in Ethiopia.

The effect of indoor air pollution from different fuel types on the anemia status among non-pregnant women of reproductive ages is rarely studied. This study aimed to assess the link between indoor air pollution from different fuel types and anemia among non-pregnant women of reproductive ages in Ethiopia. The secondary data from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data have been employed for this study. The women of reproductive age who were not pregnant at the time of the data collection were the study population and their anemia status was the outcome variable with multiple outcomes as (moderate to severe, mild, and no anemia) and households using biomass fuel and clean fuel were selected for this study. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to estimate the association of biomass fuel use with the anemia status of women in reproductive age controlling for age, body mass index, education level, exposure to household tobacco smoke, type of residence, wealth index, and region. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) was calculated at 95% Confidence Interval. An independent sample t-test was used to assess the mean difference in blood Hemoglobin level (g/dl) between biomass and clean fuel users. For all statistical tests, a p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. The proportion of anemia in women of reproductive age in Ethiopia was 41.8% and 19.4 % among biomass fuel and clean fuel users respectively. The mean blood hemoglobin level was 127.17(± 18.063) g/dl. In the multivariable multinomial logistic regression analysis, women of reproductive age who utilize biomass fuel for cooking were 33 % more likely to have mild anemia than households who use cleaner fuels, whereas the association of biomass fuel use with moderate to severe anemia was insignificant. When compared with non-pregnant women who use clean energy types, women who live in households that use biomass fuel have a lower (5.8 g/dl ) blood Hemoglobin level P < 0.001. The finding indicated that the use of biomass fuel was associated with reduced blood Hemoglobin levels and significantly associated with mild anemia levels in women of reproductive age in Ethiopia. Interventions that reduce or prevent indoor air pollution from biomass fuels must be implemented in Ethiopia.