Urban–Rural Disparities in Non-Adherence to Iron Supplementation Among Pregnant Women Aged 15 to 49 in Sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract
1. Introduction
- What are the differences in non-adherence levels between rural and urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa?
- How do these levels vary across LICs and LMICs?
- Which specific countries exhibit the highest levels of non-adherence, and how might this inform the development of targeted interventions?
2. Methods
3. Results
4. Discussion
4.1. Urban–Rural Disparities in LICs
4.2. Trends in LMICs and Promising Policy Interventions
4.3. Policy Implications and Future Directions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Countries | Non-Adherence to Iron Supplementation | ||
---|---|---|---|
Rural Areas | Urban Areas | p-Value | |
Burkina Faso | 1998 (46.11) | 474 (33.04) | <0.001 |
Burundi | 7917 (98.63) | 849 (97.82) | 0.714 |
Ethiopia | 6219 (95.63) | 836 (89.34) | <0.001 |
Gambia | 620 (39.44) | 1135 (37.20) | 0.037 |
Liberia | 780 (52.22) | 955 (49.93) | 0.002 |
Madagascar | 6041 (82.08) | 965 (66.44) | <0.001 |
Malawi | 7605 (67.33) | 1112 (58.67) | <0.001 |
Mali | 3176 (70.73) | 543 (52.51) | <0.001 |
Rwanda | 4311 (83.7) | 966 (87.06) | 0.407 |
Sierra Leon | 2319 (64.96) | 1120 (60.24) | 0.001 |
Uganda | 6010 (79.84) | 1475 (67.16) | <0.001 |
Total | 46,994 (76.64) | 10,431 (58.76) | <0.001 |
Countries | Non-Adherence to Iron Supplementation | ||
---|---|---|---|
Rural Areas | Urban Areas | p-Value | |
Angola | 2230 (80.76) | 2586 (55.92) | <0.001 |
Benin | 2396 (51.12) | 1084 (38.00) | <0.001 |
Cameroon | 1957 (59.37) | 975 (34.42) | <0.001 |
Cote d’Ivoire | 1873 (73.95) | 1734 (67.94) | <0.001 |
Gabon | 166 (62.28) | 1224 (45.94) | <0.001 |
Ghana | 1019 (41.97) | 789 (35.34) | 0.001 |
Guinea | 2977 (79.65) | 981 (65.59) | <0.001 |
Kenya | 2743 (46.69) | 1401 (40.14) | <0.001 |
Mauritania | 2061 (70.74) | 1445 (61.08) | <0.001 |
Nigeria | 9283 (73.97) | 4501 (57.34) | <0.001 |
Senegal | 779 (34.83) | 214 (17.65) | <0.001 |
South Africa | 323 (36.39) | 673 (41.06) | 0.763 |
Tanzania | 2542 (61.13) | 816 (50.62) | <0.001 |
Zambia | 811 (20.61) | 501 (19.55) | 0.748 |
Zimbabwe | 1771 (54.67) | 1082 (68.82) | <0.001 |
Total | 32,931 (59.33) | 20,005 (48.14) | <0.001 |
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Bekele, Y.; Erbas, B.; Batra, M. Urban–Rural Disparities in Non-Adherence to Iron Supplementation Among Pregnant Women Aged 15 to 49 in Sub-Saharan Africa. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22, 964. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22060964
Bekele Y, Erbas B, Batra M. Urban–Rural Disparities in Non-Adherence to Iron Supplementation Among Pregnant Women Aged 15 to 49 in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2025; 22(6):964. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22060964
Chicago/Turabian StyleBekele, Yibeltal, Bircan Erbas, and Mehak Batra. 2025. "Urban–Rural Disparities in Non-Adherence to Iron Supplementation Among Pregnant Women Aged 15 to 49 in Sub-Saharan Africa" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 22, no. 6: 964. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22060964
APA StyleBekele, Y., Erbas, B., & Batra, M. (2025). Urban–Rural Disparities in Non-Adherence to Iron Supplementation Among Pregnant Women Aged 15 to 49 in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(6), 964. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22060964