Abstract
Anaemia is highly prevalent among pregnant women and iron deficiency is the most important cause. Like many other countries, India has policies to give pregnant women iron supplements. Non-compliance is one important challenging factor in combating anaemia. To estimate the compliance for IFA tablets among pregnant women and to study the social factors influencing it. This study included 190 pregnant women seeking ante-natal care in tertiary health centres in the Mangalore city in south India. After Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) approval, data was collected by personal interview. Missing >2 doses consecutively was considered non-compliance. The data was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 11.5. The mean age of the study population was 25.8 years (SD: 4.1). Most of the subjects consumed mixed diet and 72.1% belonged to lower socioeconomic status. Overall, compliance with IFA tablets was 64.7%. Compliance increased with the increase in age, birth order and single daily dose. Forgetfulness and both perceived as well as experienced side effects of IFA therapy were the important factors for non-compliance. There was a moderate level of compliance towards IFA tablets with key social and demographic factors playing an important role.
Highlights
Anaemia is a condition in which the oxygen carrying capacity of the red blood cells is insufficient to meet the body physiological needs
The data was collected by using a pretested, semi-structured proforma, which included the demographic information, questions on practices related to Iron Folic Acid therapy, the number of doses including therapeutic purposes, their compliance and factors related to missing of the doses, followed by observing their latest hemoglobin levels from their records at the time of the interview
This study found 98% of the subjects consuming the IFA tablets and compliance was (64.7%) which is very similar to a study conducted in Senegal in 20088
Summary
Anaemia is a condition in which the oxygen carrying capacity of the red blood cells is insufficient to meet the body physiological needs It can cause various health complications in every age group including pregnant women, where it can lead to adverse maternal and foetal outcomes[1]. Objective: To estimate the compliance for IFA tablets among pregnant women and to study the social factors influencing it. Compliance increased with the increase in age, birth order and single daily dose Forgetfulness and both perceived as well as experienced side effects of IFA therapy were the important factors for non-compliance.
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