Al-Akhfash Ali A, Abdulla Abdelmagid M, Osman Amani M, Abdulgafar Julnar I, Almesned Abdulrahman A
Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Prince Sultan Cardiac Center, Maternity and Children's Hospital, Al-Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Med J. 2013 Nov;34(11):1173-8.
To explore and find out the level of awareness regarding folic acid's (FAs) importance, current use, and timing of administration among pregnant Saudi females.
This is a cross-sectional study conducted randomly among women aged 18-45 years old, attending the Antenatal and Gynecology Clinics at the Maternity and Children's Hospital, Al-Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from January to November 2012. A total of 1250 subjects were approached, and 1000 women expressed their verbal consent to participate. The questionnaire consisted of 17 items, and results were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis.
A total of 88.4% of women were aware of FA. However, only 4.4% of them took FA before pregnancy. Compared to highly educated women (20.4%), only 5% of illiterate women use FA during the first trimester of their pregnancy. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that educational level had a significant association with FA awareness and use (p=0.001; odds ratio: 0.000; 95% confidence interval: 1.001 to 1.080). Most women recall hearing of FA from their doctors. Only 48 women reported a history of a previous child with congenital anomalies, and 4 of them (8.3%) of them used FA before pregnancy.
We found that only 4.4% of the studied women use FA in their preconceptional period. The higher the educational level, the more the knowledge, and frequent use of FA. Poor level of awareness among lower educated woman requires medical authorities to broadcast the importance of FA, and there may be a need to fortify food with FA.
探讨并了解沙特孕妇对叶酸重要性、当前使用情况及服用时间的认知水平。
这是一项横断面研究，于2012年1月至11月在沙特阿拉伯卡西姆省妇幼医院的产前和妇科门诊对18 - 45岁的女性进行随机抽样。共接触了1250名受试者，1000名女性口头同意参与。问卷包含17个项目，结果采用单因素和多因素分析。
共有88.4%的女性知晓叶酸。然而，其中只有4.4%的女性在孕前服用叶酸。与高学历女性（20.4%）相比，只有5%的文盲女性在孕期头三个月使用叶酸。单因素和多因素分析显示，教育水平与叶酸认知和使用存在显著关联（p = 0.001；比值比：0.000；95%置信区间：1.001至1.080）。大多数女性回忆是从医生那里听说叶酸的。只有48名女性报告有过先天性异常患儿的病史，其中4名（8.3%）在孕前使用了叶酸。
我们发现，在研究的女性中只有4.4%在孕前使用叶酸。教育水平越高，对叶酸的知识了解越多且使用越频繁。低学历女性的认知水平较低，这需要医疗当局宣传叶酸的重要性，可能还需要在食物中强化叶酸。
