Level of Knowledge and Adherence to Vitamin D Supplementation among Infants Attending Well-Baby Clinic in Al Nawariyah Primary Health Care Center in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, 2018: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background Vitamin D is known to have essential roles in the human body. However, the case of vitamin deficiency is reported to increase in many infants worldwide, especially in Saudi Arabia. Mothers, having adequate knowledge about vitamin D and its supplementation, may lead to possible lowering of the cases of vitamin D deficiency and its complications. Aim of the study: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence, level of knowledge and determinants of adherence to Vitamin D supplementation among infants attending the well-baby clinic in Al Nawariyah PHCC at Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 125 mothers of infants attending the well-baby clinic in Al Nawariyah PHCC at Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Male and female infants of any nationalities was considered as the inclusion criteria, while the exclusion measure was set as infants who are non-arabic (or English-speaking), not accompanied by their mothers and has medical disease. Validated questionnaires concerning demographic data and knowledge scores on Vitamin D and its supplementation were given in Arabic version. Results: Results revealed that high prevalence (76.0%) of low level of adherence to vitamin D supplementation of the mothers was due to limited information about it regardless of how they feed their children. In terms of knowledge of mothers towards Vitamin D, most (96.0%) were not informed that there are recommendations on how to use vitamin D supplements for children. Family is the major reported source (60.0%) of information concerning Vitamin D, followed by doctor (20.0%) and media (20.0%). Using Chi-square test, the educational qualification of mothers (p = 0.038) and the manner of infant feeding (p = 0.041) were found to be significant characteristics that affected the decision of the respondents to negatively practice supplementation of Vitamin D, leading to reported low adherence. Conclusion: This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence, level of knowledge on vitamin D and adherence to supplementation of the mothers of infants. Most of the respondents was found to have limited information about vitamin D deficiency, and the high prevalence of low level of adherence to vitamin D supplementation of the participants, whether under breast-, artificial or mix- type of infant feeding, was mainly due to limited information about this matter. Overall, the mothers of infants under study had poor knowledge and adherence to vitamin D supplementation, suggesting that all mothers, regardless of the educational attainment and the manner of infant feeding, must be exposed to health care and educational program in order for them to increase their knowledge about the importance of micronutrients – its function and supplementation - towards infants, especially the vitamin D.