AlDuraibi Shuaa, Al-Mutawa Johara
Family Medicine, King Fahd Medical City Academy for Postgraduate Studies in Family Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University Hospitals, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2020 Oct 30;9(10):5158-5164. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_638_20. eCollection 2020 Oct.
Folic acid (FA) supplementation is an important intervention to avoid nutritional deficiencies during pregnancy and later on will have an effect on mother and fetus. Inadequate dietary intake will lead to nutritional deficiency which further requires to depend on supplementation. FA is one of the vital nutrients which is mandatory for improving pregnancy outcomes. Previous studies have documented the pregnant women who know about supplementation of FA but not consuming during pregnancy will lead to complications in their neonates. This study aimed to inspect the knowledge and awareness about supplementation of FA in Saudi pregnant women and to compare present study results with other prior studies carried out in the Saudi population.
In this study, we have opted 406 Saudi pregnant women with the age range of 18-65 years of age through questionnaire-based research, was further assessed for FA supplementation usage during the pregnancy. Involved pregnant women have filled questionnaire and signed the consent form.
The results of this study showed 38% of women were pregnant during 31-40 years of the age range. Almost 96% of pregnant women have awareness about FA supplementation during pregnancies, and 5.9% of women had histories for not using FA supplementation and had abnormal offspring. The current study questionnaire survey confirms 55.7% of pregnant women have information about FA supplementations. Nearly 89% of women have used FA in their previous pregnancies.
Saudi pregnant women has good knowledge and awareness about the usage of FA supplementation during pregnancy. Limited efforts should be implemented national wide in all the hospitals and clinics to improve the awareness about maternal nutrition during pregnancy. Nutritional counselling should be conducted in remote areas to get a perception in Saudi Arabia.
补充叶酸（FA）是避免孕期营养缺乏的一项重要干预措施，对母亲和胎儿都有影响。饮食摄入不足会导致营养缺乏，进而需要依靠补充剂。FA是改善妊娠结局所必需的重要营养素之一。以往研究表明，了解FA补充剂但孕期未服用的孕妇会导致新生儿出现并发症。本研究旨在调查沙特孕妇对FA补充剂的知识和认知情况，并将本研究结果与此前在沙特人群中开展的其他研究进行比较。
在本研究中，我们通过问卷调查选取了406名年龄在18至65岁之间的沙特孕妇，并进一步评估她们孕期FA补充剂的使用情况。参与研究的孕妇填写了问卷并签署了知情同意书。
本研究结果显示，38%的女性在31至40岁年龄段怀孕。几乎96%的孕妇了解孕期补充FA，5.9%未使用FA补充剂且有异常后代。本次研究问卷调查证实，55.7%的孕妇了解FA补充剂。近89%的女性在之前的孕期中使用过FA。
沙特孕妇对孕期补充FA的使用有良好的知识和认知。应在全国所有医院和诊所做出有限努力，以提高对孕期孕产妇营养的认知。应在沙特偏远地区开展营养咨询。
