Conjunctival impression cytology and detection of vitamin A deficiency in pregnant women, Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia.

BACKGROUNDS: Ethiopia has been classified by the WHO as a country where vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem. Vitamin A deficiency is labelled as a public health problem based on its extensively studied endemicity among children. Maternal vitamin A deficiency has received little attention. Thus the principal objective of this study is to assess the vitamin A status of pregnant Ethiopians based on Conjunctival Impression Cytology (CIC) and serum levels of vitamin A.

METHODS: It is a descriptive study done among women attending ANC in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy at the ante-natal clinic of Gondar University Hospital. Women who appeared in July to October 2006 were recruited into the study based on inclusion criteria. Their socio-demographic and economic status, dietary, anthropometric and maternity data were collected with the help of structured questionnaire. Fasting blood samples were taken from the antecubital vein of each woman for determination of serum retinol. Furthermore, conjunctival cell samples were collected on Millipore Cellulose Acetate Filter to detect vitamin A deficiency related to Goblet cells and squamous metaplasia.

RESULTS: A total of 303 pregnant mothers were included in this study. Twenty-six percent of the pregnant women had vitamin A deficiency or low serum retinol. Night blindness was found in 4.3% of the pregnant women. CIC results showed absence of goblet cells and/or mucin was seen more in those with low serum retinol but this was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION: Adequate nutrient supplementation to pregnant women is recommended based on the results. Further studies should be conducted to validate the importance of CIC.