Access to a piped water supply is positively associated with haemoglobin levels in females living in rural Maharashtra State, India

Objectives There is a high prevalence of anaemia in individuals living in rural India, which may be modified by a number of environmental factors. The association between access to water, toileting facilities and healthcare services with the prevalence of anaemia was explored to determine potentially modifiable community-level risk factors. Study design This was a cross-sectional survey. Methods Data were collected from adolescent females (aged 13–17 years) living in 34 villages in rural areas of the Maharashtra state of India on measures of sanitation facilities and access to health care along with haemoglobin measurements. Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate associations between environmental (community) factors and adolescent haemoglobin levels and anaemia, respectively. Results Data were available from 1010 individuals, which represented a response rate of over 97% of those who were approached for the study. The prevalence of anaemia was very high (87%) when measured using haemoglobin levels. Access to a piped water supply was associated with 0.59 g/dL of increase in haemoglobin levels (95% confidence interval: 0.10–1.09). Associations between access to communal toilets, travel time to the hospital, health centres or nurses and haemoglobin levels or anaemia were not statistically significant. Conclusions Anaemia prevalence was very high in our study population. Simple improvements such as provision of regular piped water is associated with an increase in haemoglobin levels in rural Indian females. These are consistent with the hypothesis that chronic exposure to higher levels of microbes in the living environment contributes to the risk of anaemia.