Microcytic and Malarial Anaemia Prevalence in Urban Children ≤15 Years in the Mount Cameroon Area: A Cross-Sectional Study on Risk Factors

Table 2

Prevalence of malaria parasite and malnutrition by sociodemographic factors.

Parameter	Category	N	Malaria parasite prevalence % (n)	χ^2, value	Malnutrition prevalence	χ^2, value
Gender	Male	267	28.5 (76)	0.133,	16.5 (44)	0.648,0.421
	Female	299	27.1 (81)	0.715	14.0 (42)
Age	1–5	291	28.9 (84)	11.855,0.003	21.0 (61)	17.110,<0.001
	6–10	141	35.5 (50)		6.4 (9)
	11–15	134	17.2 (23)		11.9 (16)
Altitude	Lowland	348	32.8 (114)	11.360,0.001	18.1 (63)	5.934
	Highland	218	19.7 (43)		10.6 (23)	0.015
Point of presentation	Community	208	17.8 (37)	16.243, <0.001	17.8 (37)	1.717
	Hospital	358	33.5 (120)		13.7 (49)	0.190
Parents’ age^c	≤25	16	6.2 (1)	3.940,0.268	25.0 (4)	5.076,0.166
	26–35	116	22.4 (26)		17.2 (20)
	36–50	180	20.6 (37)		13.9 (25)
	>50	95	14.4 (14)		8.4 (8)
Education	Primary	132	19.7 (26)	7.288,0.063	17.4 (23)	2.516,0.472
	Secondary	230	28.3 (65)		13.9 (32)
	Tertiary	179	31.3 (56)		14.0 (25)
	No formal	25	40.0 (10)		24.0 (6)
Family size	1–5	286	32.5 (93)	6.605,0.037	13.6 (39)	2.629,0.269
	6–10	248	23.0 (57)		17.7 (44)
	>10	32	21.9 (7)		9.4 (3)
Occupation	Farming	123	29.3 (36)	11.239,0.081	10.6 (13)	14.495,0.025
	Civil servant	77	24.7 (19)		10.4 (8)
	Petty trading	63	33.3 (21)		9.5 (6)
	Private worker	92	20.7 (19)		16.3 (15)
	Fishing	103	28.2 (29)		23.3 (24)
	Jobless	69	39.1 (27)		23.2 (16)
	Retired	39	15.4 (6)		10.3 (4)
Ethnicity	Coastal	212	19.3 (41)	2.861,0.581	10.8 (23)	10.816, 0.029
	Grassland	112	17.0 (19)		12.5 (14)
	Forest	5	20.0 (1)		20.0 (1)
	Sahel	7	0.0 (0)		14.3 (1)
	Other ethnic groups	68	23.5 (16)		26.5 (18)

^cCalculated for 407 participants. values in bold are statistically significant.