International Health Program, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, 155 Li-Nong Street, Section 2, Bei-Tou, 11221, Taipei, Taiwan.
Institute of Public Health, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2021 Jun 30;21(1):469. doi: 10.1186/s12884-021-03881-8.
BACKGROUND: During pregnancy, nutritional requirements increase and if not met, pregnancy-related complications may manifest. To prevent these undesirable outcomes, the World Health Organization recommends daily oral iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation as part of antenatal care. Despite this recommendation, the use of IFA supplements is still very low in several developing countries. Additionally, no prior information exists regarding the level of consumption of IFA in Eswatini. Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of consumption of IFA supplements and to identify factors associated with the consumption of IFA supplements among pregnant women in Eswatini. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 330 pregnant women aged ≥ 18 years in their third trimester in Eswatini. Participants were recruited from eight purposively selected healthcare facilities from July 2019 to October 2019. Good consumption was defined as consuming all or almost all IFA supplements throughout pregnancy. RESULTS: During the first trimester, 10.3 % of the participants consumed all or almost all IFA supplements. In the second and third trimesters, those who consumed all or almost all supplements were 37 and 39.7 %, respectively, for iron and 37.6 and 40.9 %, respectively, for folic acid. Barriers, including side effects, forgetfulness, safe previous pregnancies without IFA, others' advice against consumption, IFA stock-outs, inability to meet transport costs, and inadequate supply of IFA tablets, contribute to low consumption of IFA. Multivariate logistic regression models showed that the barriers were inversely associated with good consumption of IFA supplements. Better knowledge and attitude toward IFA and older maternal age were positively associated with good consumption of IFA supplements. CONCLUSIONS: Low consumption of IFA supplements in overall pregnancy is mainly owing to the late antenatal care attendance. Strategies such as establishing a preconception care unit and school-based provision of IFA may be helpful. It is evident that most women still lack knowledge, and some have negative attitudes about IFA supplements. Health education to raise awareness and emphasize the importance of starting antenatal care early as well as consuming supplements on time should be revisited and intensified. Multiple strategies such as including community health care workers for distributing IFA supplements, discussing with clients about the measures to reduce forgetfulness, advising ways to prevent and manage the side effects, providing subsidies to cover transport costs, and ensuring adequate supply of IFA supplements in facilities may need to be employed to reduce the identified barriers.
背景:怀孕期间,营养需求增加,如果得不到满足,可能会出现与妊娠相关的并发症。为了预防这些不良后果,世界卫生组织建议将每日口服铁和叶酸(IFA)补充剂作为产前护理的一部分。尽管有此建议,但在一些发展中国家,IFA 补充剂的使用仍然非常低。此外,在斯威士兰,没有关于 IFA 消费水平的信息。因此,本研究旨在确定斯威士兰孕妇服用 IFA 补充剂的流行率,并确定与孕妇服用 IFA 补充剂相关的因素。
方法:2019 年 7 月至 10 月,在斯威士兰的 8 家有针对性选择的医疗机构中,对 330 名年龄≥18 岁的妊娠晚期妇女进行了横断面问卷调查。招募参与者。良好的消费被定义为在整个怀孕期间服用所有或几乎所有的 IFA 补充剂。
结果:在孕早期,10.3%的参与者服用了所有或几乎所有的 IFA 补充剂。在第二和第三孕期,分别有 37%和 39.7%的人服用了所有或几乎所有的铁补充剂,37.6%和 40.9%的人服用了所有或几乎所有的叶酸补充剂。副作用、健忘、安全的既往妊娠无 IFA、他人反对服用、IFA 缺货、无法支付交通费用以及 IFA 片剂供应不足等障碍,导致 IFA 服用量低。多变量逻辑回归模型显示,这些障碍与 IFA 补充剂的良好消费呈负相关。对 IFA 的更好的知识和态度以及母亲年龄较大与 IFA 补充剂的良好消费呈正相关。
结论:总体而言,IFA 补充剂在整个孕期的低消费主要是由于晚期产前护理。建立孕前护理单位和在学校提供 IFA 等策略可能会有所帮助。显然,大多数妇女仍然缺乏知识,一些人对 IFA 补充剂持负面态度。应重新审视和加强提高认识和强调及早开始产前护理以及按时服用补充剂的重要性的健康教育。可能需要采取多种策略,例如派遣社区卫生工作者分发 IFA 补充剂,与客户讨论减少健忘的措施,提供预防和管理副作用的方法,提供交通费用补贴,并确保设施中有足够的 IFA 补充剂供应,以减少已确定的障碍。
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