Original Research Paper

Prenatal Iron-folic Acid Adherence And Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women Having Follow-up Care In The Yeka Health Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract :

Background: Iron deficiency anemia is a condition caused by inadequate intake or low absorption of iron and increased demands during pregnancy. Iron-folic acid supplementation is the main strategy for prevention and control of iron deficiency anemia and its effectiveness depends on adherence to Iron-Folic Acid tablets. Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate Prenatal Iron-Folic Acid adherence and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care in the health center at Yeka sub-city Addis Ababa Ethiopia, 2020Methods: A facility-based descriptive study design mainly a quantitative approach was conducted among pregnant women in five selected health centers in the Yeka sub-city from June to July 2020. A sample size of 389 using single population proportion formula by taking prevalence adherence to folic acid supplementation 60.1% was determined. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants and a pre-tested interview administered structured questionnaire was employed to obtain the necessary information after getting written and informed consent from the concerned bodies and study subjects. The collected data were checked for completeness and consistency and it was coded before data entry. Data was entered, cleaned and analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) 25. To indicate the strength of association, odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used.Result: A total of 378 pregnant women were included (97.1% response rate), of which 244 (64.6%) were adhered to (95% CI=59.8-69.6), mother education (AOR=0.01, 95% CI 0.00-0.12), number of ANC visit (AOR = 0.25. 95% CI 0.12-0.55) and health education about IFA (AOR = 0.05, 95%CI (0.01-0.29) were statistically associated with adherence to IFAS among pregnant women. Conclusions: The rate of adherence was poor. The reasons for poor adherence were Fear of side effect, forgetting fullness, and failure to get adequate supplements in the health facility.

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