Project 2: Analyzing Differences in the Prevalence of Anemia Among Pregnant Women Between Africa, South-East Asia, and Internationally

Background:

In this course, we learned how to use quantitative analysis in geography, and I chose to analyze the differences in anemia prevalence among pregnant women in different regions. Anemia is a prevalent yet preventable condition, existing mostly in women throughout the globe. However, during pregnancy, a lack of necessary vitals that result in anemia can often lead to adverse outcomes in infants and mothers. Although mild anemia is common during pregnancy, severe anemia can be prevented through proper diet and intake of iron, which may be a challenge in some regions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the condition of anemia is most prevalent in the regions of Africa and South-East Asia. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to analyze the differences in the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in the regions of Africa and South-East Asia, as well as understanding its prevalence globally. 

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Geographic Data:

The geographic data in this analysis was obtained from WHO. The data was collected from 303 population-representative data sources, which were from 116 nations and ranged between the years 1990 to 2016. The data points are represented in percentages, with no indication of the hemoglobin concentration, but rather the prevalence of it in each WHO region.

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Geographic Methods/Models:

Both the descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to analyze this problem, which were both conducted in Excel. The descriptive statistics that were analyzed were the frequency distribution, mean, and standard deviation. To analyze the data, the two inferential statistics used were: analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure and Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD) test.

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Key Results:

The summary statistics (Table 2) of the data show that the mean prevalence of anemia in pregnant women globally is nearly 41.1% between the years of 1990 and 2016, whereas for Africa and South-East Asia it is 50.6% and 49.7%, respectively. No outliers seem to exist. After running the one-way ANOVA test through Excel (Table 2), the results indicated that the sample means were found to differ significantly. Tukey’s HSD test indicated that the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women globally differed from the region of Africa, and a significant difference was also noted between the global prevalence and that in South-East Asia. However, no significant difference was observed between the regions of Africa and South-East Asia.

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Conclusion:

In conclusion, after evaluating the descriptive portion of data, and performing a one-way ANOVA test and Tukey’s HSD test for inferential statistics, it is evident that there is a significant difference between the means of the global, African, and South-East Asian regions in the prevalence of anemia between 1990 and 2016. Further implications suggest a need for some policy implementation on aiding pregnant women, especially in the regions of Africa and South-East Asia, in maintaining or increasing their nutrition to prevent severe anemia. However, one of the major limitations of this analysis was that there was no indication of the measure of hemoglobin concentration. Its presence could have guided us in more specific prevention of anemia. 

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Key Tables:

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