Table 4 Distribution of anemia severity and multinomial logistic regression showing crude ORs of risk factors for mild and moderate-to-severe anemia and respective p values in men

 Rural (Karonga)

4,997

6.8

1

1.5

1

 Urban (Lilongwe)

3,929

5.4

0.77(0.65–0.92)

0.9

0.58(0.39–0.87)

0.001

 18–24

2,593

2.8

1

0.6

1

 25–34

2,398

3.8

1.36(1.00–1.86)

0.5

0.95(0.45–1.99)

 35–44

1,736

5.6

2.05(1.51–2.80)

1.0

1.85(0.93–3.69)

 45–54

967

9.8

3.83(2.80–5.25)

2.2

4.12(2.11–8.03)

 55–64

592

12.7

5.10(3.64–7.13)

2.0

3.97(1.85–8.53)

>65

640

19.2

8.68(6.40–11.79)

4.8

10.65(5.71–19.88)

<0.001

 Never smoker

7,409

5.8

1

1.2

1

 Past

507

8.1

1.45(1.04–2.02)

1.8

1.60(0.80–3.20)

 Current

1,010

8.5

1.53(1.20–1.95)

1.6

1.43(0.83–2.45)

0.004

 No

5,414

6.4

1

1.5

1

 Light/irregular

2,628

6.4

0.99(0.82–1.19)

0.9

0.57(0.36–0.90)

 Moderate/heavy

884

4.5

0.68(0.49–0.96)

0.5

0.29(0.10–0.78)

0.001

 No formal/illiterate

391

11.5

1.56(1.11–2.18)

3.6

2.69(1.46–4.96)

 Standard

3,092

7.9

1

1.4

1

 Secondary

4,406

5.0

0.62(0.51–0.74)

0.9

0.62(0.40–0.95)

 Tertiary

1,037

4.2

0.50(0.36–0.70)

1.2

0.78(0.41–1.48)

<0.001

 Unemployed

2,505

5.6

1

1.3

1

 Farming/Fishing

2,886

7.6

1.38(1.11–1.72)

1.7

1.34(0.85–2.10)

 Self-employed

1,516

5.5

0.97(0.74–1.29)

1.4

1.08(0.62–1.89)

 Salaried worker

2,019

6.4

0.97(0.75–1.25)

0.5

0.35(0.16–0.73)

<0.001

 1^st (lowest)

1,544

7.6

1

1.4

1

 2nd

2,044

5.5

0.72(0.55–0.93)

1.6

1.13(0.65–1.96)

 3rd

1,695

7.5

0.99(0.76–1.28)

1.4

1.04(0.58–1.88)

 4th

2,032

6.0

0.78(0.60–1.01)

1.0

0.71(0.38–1.31)

 5^th (highest)

1,564

4.6

0.59(0.43–0.79)

0.8

0.59(0.29–1.18)

0.002

 No

8,174

5.7

1

1.2

1

 Yes

740

11.5

2.17(1.70–2.77)

2.0

1.92(1.11–3.33)

<0.001

 HIV negative

6,588

5.3

1

1.0

1

 HIV+ <5 years on ART

220

19.1

4.46(3.13–6.36)

5.5

6.56(3.48–12.35)

 HIV+ ≥5 years on ART

154

10.4

2.09(1.23–3.55)

2.0

2.01(0.63–6.49)

 Not on ART

218

19.3

4.43(3.11–6.32)

4.1

4.89(2.40–9.97)

 Unknown HIV status

1,745

6.0

1.13(0.90–1.42)

1.0

1.01(0.60–1.70)

<0.001