Effect of Iron and Folic Acid supplementation among nutritionally anemic women of reproductive age in rural Maharashtra: Acommunity-based intervention study

Abstract

Background: In the context of the limited effectiveness of daily iron supplementation in national programs, intermittent iron supplementation is currently under debate as a possible alternative. Objective: To study the outcome of twice weekly iron supplementation compared to daily supplementation. Methods: A community-based interventional study was carried out in 283 women of the 15-49 years age group who were not pregnant and not lactating at the initiation of the study. For intervention purpose, women with mild and moderate anemia were taken. In two schedules, an interventional drug (100 mg elemental iron with 0.5 mg folic acid) was given for three months. In the daily schedule, one tablet every day; and in the weekly schedule, two tablets once a week on a fixed day were given. Result: Out of 283 anemic participants, 141 received daily while 142 received weekly iron and folic acid supplementation. Post intervention, the weekly iron supplementation group revealed that, proportion of anemia cases reduced to the tune of 32.4% and the mean increase in hemoglobin level was 1.42 gm/dl (SD ± 0.77). In contrast, in patients who had a daily supplementation regimen, the mean increase in hemoglobin level was 1.78 gm/dl (SD ± 0.83). Conclusion: Result of present study shows that, effect of daily Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation to raise hemoglobin level was higher as compared to weekly IFA supplementation. But weekly supplementation when considered separately also had significant effect to raise the hemoglobin level. It is observed that, there is no statistically significant difference in the rise of hemoglobin in both the groups, signifying weekly iron therapy as effective role as daily iron therapy in reducing anemia