Clinical Biochemistry Unit, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia.
Medical Student, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2022 Jul 25;58(8):986. doi: 10.3390/medicina58080986.
Background and Objectives: Folic acid (FA) is a necessary ingredient for numerous bodily activities including pregnancy. Because of this, women should have knowledge and awareness of the health benefits of FA supplementation. Thus, we aimed to investigate the level of knowledge on the importance of FA and determine associated factors for knowledge among female college students at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Material and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a questionnaire between January 2020 and February 2021 among female college students aged 17 to 26 years old. The questionnaire adapted with permission from Alnaami et al. included questions on the demographic profile of the participants as well as questions related to their knowledge and awareness of FA, FA supplementation, the importance of supplementation and their sources of knowledge of FA. Results: A total of 437 female undergraduate students participated in the study, 285 (65.2%) of whom were from the non-health colleges and 152 (34.8%) from the health colleges. The majority of participants were between ages 17 and 21 years old (n = 361, 82.6%). Half of the respondents were in their 3rd and 4th year of study (n = 122, 50.8%), 138 respondents (31.6%) were married, and 111 of these married women (80.4%) had children. There were 266 respondents (61.0%) who had heard and had knowledge of FA, 241 (55.3%) knew of FA timing of intake, 243 (55.7%) of FA duration of intake and 362 (83.0%) knew of the diseases prevented by FA supplementation. Linear regression analysis showed that being in the health college (B = 1.464, t = 11.37, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 1.211, 1.717) and a higher educational year level (B = 0.139, t = 2.442, p = 0.015, 95% CI = 0.027, 0.251) were the significant predictors of knowledge of FA. Conclusions: Knowledge of FA and FA supplementation was low at 61% considering that our study population were college students. Being enrolled in a health college and in a higher educational year level were significant positive correlates of higher knowledge of FA and FA supplementation. Despite this, there exists a gap of information regarding FA and FA supplementation particularly among single women and college educated women in the early years of their college life as well as those in non-health colleges.
叶酸（FA）是许多身体活动包括妊娠所必需的成分。正因为如此，女性应该了解并认识到 FA 补充的健康益处。因此，我们旨在调查沙特阿拉伯利雅得的沙特国王大学女大学生对 FA 重要性的认知水平，并确定其相关知识的影响因素。
我们于 2020 年 1 月至 2021 年 2 月期间进行了一项横断面研究，以问卷形式对年龄在 17 至 26 岁之间的女大学生进行调查。问卷改编自 Alnaami 等人的问卷，内容包括参与者的人口统计学概况以及与 FA、FA 补充剂、补充剂的重要性及其 FA 知识来源有关的问题。
共有 437 名女本科生参与了这项研究，其中 285 名（65.2%）来自非健康学院，152 名（34.8%）来自健康学院。大多数参与者年龄在 17 至 21 岁之间（n=361，82.6%）。一半的受访者处于第 3 年和第 4 年的学习阶段（n=122，50.8%），138 名受访者（31.6%）已婚，其中 111 名已婚妇女（80.4%）已育有子女。有 266 名受访者（61.0%）听说过并了解 FA，241 名（55.3%）知道 FA 的摄入时间，243 名（55.7%）知道 FA 的摄入持续时间，362 名（83.0%）知道 FA 可预防的疾病。线性回归分析显示，就读于健康学院（B=1.464，t=11.37，p<0.001，95%CI=1.211，1.717）和更高的教育年级（B=0.139，t=2.442，p=0.015，95%CI=0.027，0.251）是 FA 知识的显著预测因子。
考虑到我们的研究对象是大学生，因此，对 FA 和 FA 补充剂的了解程度仅为 61%。入读健康学院和较高的教育年级是 FA 和 FA 补充剂知识水平较高的显著正相关因素。尽管如此，特别是在单身女性、接受过大学教育且处于大学学习早期的女性以及非健康学院的女性中，关于 FA 和 FA 补充剂的信息仍存在差距。
