Assessment of Knowledge and Practice among Pregnant Women on Folic Acid Intake and its Related Factors

  Background and Objectives: Increasing d aily intake of 400 micrograms folic acid to 80% among childbearing women up to 2010 is a public health goal. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of pregnant women on folic acid intake and its related factors.   Material and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 361 literate pregnant women attending health centers in Zanjan were recruited to the study using a convenience sampling method. Data were collected usinf a questionnaire. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the items was 0.75. Data were analyzed using statistical t-test, ANOVA, Chi-square, and logistic regression. The mean of knowledge score was considered as the average knowledge and ranges more or less than the average were considered as high or low knowledge, respectively.   Results: About 25.2 percent of pregnant women had good knowledge, 53.2 percent had average knowledge, and 21.6 percent had low knowledge. The knowledge score had a significant relationship with the occupation, mothers’ age, and education .More than 60 percent of the participants used folic acid alone or in combination with multivitamins or iron. The folic acid usage had a significant correlation with gestational age as the highest percentage of consumption of folic acid was in the second trimester of pregnancy and the lowest percentage was in the first trimester. Most of the women (73.1%) had heard about folic acid. Public clinics were the most cited source of information. Marriage classes had provided the least information.   Conclusion: Despite a large percentage of women who had heard about folic acid, most of them had not enough knowledge about benefits of folic acid consumption during pregnancy. Folic acid intake amount was near the public health goal however, most of the participants had started taking the pills after their first trimester. Therefore, educating women on the benefits of folic acid intake during pregnancy should be considered in educational classes