The Hemoglobin Levels and Characteristics in Malaria Endemic Region in Eastern Indonesia

Introductions: Anemia is the most common symptoms to appear in malaria infection. Hb levels in malaria infection are one of the benchmarks to determine whether or not a patient is anemic as a predictor of the severity of infection. Malarial anemia is capable of causing severe morbidity and mortality especially in children and pregnant women infected. The most prevalent etiology of malaria in Indonesia is P. falciparum (52%) and P. vivax (38%). There is no specific study about Hb level in the community in an endemic area. Accurate clinical diagnoses are necessary to determine the local specific malaria symptoms. Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the different of Hb levels between malaria P. falciparum and P. vivax in eastern Indonesia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using secondary data in 2013-2014 from 5 sub-districts in South Central Timor Regency. Data was collected and analyzed using bivariate and multivariate analysis with 95% confidence interval (CI) and α= 0.05. Results: Data consisting of 152 respondents were collected. 62,5% (95/152) were infected P. vivax and 37.5% (57/152) infected with the P. falciparum. Mean of Hb levels from P. falciparum 11.130 g/dL and P. vivax 11.296 g/dL. T-test resulted the value of p-value 0.672 (p-value >0.05) with MD 0.166, 95% CI -0.938-1.606, while multiple linear regression showed regression coefficient -0.059 and p-value 0.876 (p-value >0.05) for Hb levels on P. falciparum and P. vivax-infected patients. Conclusion: The average level of Hb in P. falciparum-infected patients is relatively lower than P. vivax-infected patients.