Study of Awareness and Practice of Folic Acid Intake among Iraqi Women

Abstract

Background: Folic acid supplementation before and during pregnancy reduces the risks of neural tube defects. WHO recommended that folic acid supplement of 400 µg should be taken daily by all women, from the moment they begin trying to conceive until 12 weeks of gestation. Objectives: To study the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of women at childbearing age regarding folic acid intake. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at the second Al-Adhamyia primary heath care center/ Baghdad from the 1st of January to end of February 2017. One hundred seventy married women at age 15−49 years were enrolled in the study. They were selected by non-probability convenient sampling technique. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22. Results: Mean age of the study sample was 30.3 ± 8 years. The illiterate and the highly educated were 7 (4.1%) and 70 (41.1%) respectively. Their awareness regarding the folic acid need was 79%. About 61.2% knew its importance in pregnancy, while only 47.1% knew its benefit in pre pregnancy. The practice of folic acid in previous pregnancy was 76.5%, mainly started during the first month. More than half (57.7%) used it daily. Results also show that there is a significant association between knowledge (heard of folic acid and awareness of its importance) of women and age, education and parity. Conclusion: Knowledge regarding folic acid and its importance among women was fairly good. The practice was also satisfactory. However, more strategies are needed to increase the awareness about the preconception use of folic acid in our community.