Abstract:
ABSTRACT
Background: Iron and folic acid supplementation can effectively control and prevent
anemia in pregnancy. In Ethiopia iron foliate are prescribed for all pregnant mothers
during their Antenatal visit. However, limited adherence thought to be a major reason
for the low effectiveness of iron supplementation program.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the adherence and factors associated to
iron and folic acid supplements among pregnant women living in West Dembia District,
North West Ethiopia.
Methods: Institution based cross sectional study was carried out from February 07 to
March 07 2018 in West Dembia district. A total of 348 pregnant mothers who had at
least one ANC visit were interviewed. All health centers in the woreda were included in
the study, the sample size to each health center were allocated using probability
proportional to average number of ANC client served in the health center, and study
participants for the interview were selected by systematic random sampling. Data were
collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Collected data were entered to
Epi data version 7 and were exported to SPSS version 20. Bi variable and Multi variable
analysis were computed to analyze the data.
Results: Adherence rate of iron and folic acid supplementation were 164(47.1%),
knowledge of anemia (AOR: 2.55, 95%CI: 1.45-4.47), knowledge of iron foliate
supplement (AOR: 2.75, 95%CI: 1.48-5.12), reaching 4th ANC visits (AOR: 6.54,
95%CI: 3.01-14.21) and anemia during this pregnancy (AOR: 13.87, 95%CI: 3.01-
14.21) were significantly associated with adherence (P<=0.05). Major reasons why
pregnant women not adhered were due to forgetfulness 76(41%) and side effect
74(40%).
