Table 3 Multilevel ordinal logistic regression analysis of individual and community level variables associated with severity levels of anemia among children aged 6–23 months in sub-Saharan Africa

Sex of child

 Male

1

1

 Female

0.78 (0.76, 0.81)

0.78 (0.76, 0.81)^**

Child age

 6–11

1

1

 12–17

0.96 (0.93, 1.01)

0.97 (0.93, 1.01)

 18–23

0.73 (0.70, 0.76)

0.73 (0.70, 0.76)^**

Child twin status

 Single

1

1

 Twin

1.63 (1.48, 1.88)

1.53 (1.39, 1.69)^*

Maternal educational status

 No

1

1

 Primary

0.59 (0.57, 0.61)

0.80 (0.77, 0.84)^*

 Secondary

0.53 (0.51, 0.56)

0.70 (0.66, 0.74)^**

 Higher

0.38 (0.34, 0.43)

0.49 (0.43, 0.55)^*

Chid size at birth

 Average

1

1

 Larger than average

0.94 (0.91, 0.98)

0.91 (0.88, 0.95)^*

 Smaller than average

1.16 (1.11, 1.21)

1.16 (1.11, 1.21)^**

Media exposure

 No

1

1

 Yes

1.06 (1.03, 1.11)

0.98 (0.94, 1.02)

Birth order

 1^st

1

1

 2^nd – 3^rd

1.00 (0.95, 1.05)

1.01 (0.96, 1.07)

 4^th -5^th

1.04 (0.97, 1.10)

1.05 (0.99, 1.12)

 6^th and above

1.08 (1.00, 1.16)

1.12 (1.04, 1.20)^*

Household wealth status

 Poorest

1

1

 Poorer

1.01 (0.96, 1.06)

0.98 (0.93, 1.03)

 Middle

0.97 (0.92, 1.02)

0.91 (0.87, 0.96)^*

 Richer

0.97 (0.92, 1.02)

0.91 (0.86, 0.96)^*

 Richest

0.86 (0.81, 0.92)

0.78 (0.73, 0.84)^*

Had a fever for the last two weeks

 No

1

1

 Yes

1.39 (1.34, 1.44)

1.40 (1.35, 1.45)^**

Number of ANC visits

 No

1

1

 1–3

1.07 (1.01, 1.13)

1.06 (0.99, 1.12)

  ≥ 4

0.93 (0.88, 0.99)

0.91 (0.86, 0.96)^*

Place of delivery

 Home

1

1

 Health facility

0.98 (0.94, 1.02)

1.04 (0.99, 1.08)

Maternal age

 15–19

1

1

 20–29

0.87 (0.82, 0.93)

0.86 (0.80, 0.91)^*

 30–39

0.75 (0.69, 0.81)

0.73 (0.68, 0.79)^*

 40–49

0.66 (0.59, 0.73)

0.64 (0.58, 0.71)^*

Residence

 Urban

1

1

 Rural

1.26 (1.21, 1.31)

0.99 (0.95, 1.04)

Sub-Saharan African region

 East

1

1

 Southern

0.84 (0.77, 0.91)

0.89 (0.82, 0.97)^*

 Central

1.21 (1.16, 1.27)

1.17 (1.12, 1.23)^*

 West

2.29 (2.20, 2.37)

2.09 (2.01, 2.18)^*

Distance to the health facility

 Not a big problem

1

1

 Big problem

1.13 (1.09, 1.17)

1.06 (1.03, 1.10)^*

Community maternal education

 Low

1

1

 High

0.80 (0.75, 0.86)

0.92 (0.86, 0.99)^*

Community poverty

 Low

1

1

 High

0.99 (0.95, 1.03)

0.97 (0.93, 1.01)

 /cut1

0.31 (0.30, 0.32)

-1.92 (-2.01, -1.84)

-0.68 (-0.73, -0.64)

-1.53 (-1.63, -1.42)

 /cut2

0.01 (0.009, 0.03)

-0.68 (-0.77, -0.59)

0.55 (0.51, 0.60)

-0.26 (-0.37, -0.15)

 /cut3

3..14 (3.10, 3.19)

2.54 (2.44, 2.63)

3.76 (3.69, 3.82)

3.00 (2.89, 3.12)

Random effect analysis result

 Community-level variance

0.25

0.24

0.22

0.20

 LR test

Prob >  = chibar2 < 0.01

 VPC (%)

7.4

6.8

6.3

5.7

 MOR

1.32

1.30

1.24

1.19

 LLR

-60,800.71

-59,483

-59,651.73

-58,795.65

 Deviance

121,601.42

118,966

119,303.46

117,591.3

 AIC

121,609.4

119,022

119,325.5

117,591.3

 BIC

121,644.8

119,269.7

119,422.8

117,970.9