Abstract
Neural tube defects (NTDs) can be reduced by 50% to 70% with sufficient periconceptional intake of folic acid. Hispanic women are up to 3 times more likely than non-Hispanics to have a child affected by NTDs. This disparity is complicated by health literacy, as women impacted by this disparity are also at-risk for low health literacy. The purpose of this project was to pilot advertisements to promote multivitamins, increasing folic acid consumption, among Hispanic adolescents. The advertisements for Hispanic adolescents and their mothers focused on broad benefits of a multivitamin, downplaying folic acid’s role in prenatal health. Participants were Hispanic mothers ( n = 25) and adolescents ( n = 25) at a clinic in the Southwestern United States. Likert-type survey items and an open-ended question were used to assess attitudes toward multivitamins and advertisements. The Newest Vital Sign (NVS) was used to assess participants’ health literacy. Participants’ impressions of the ads were positive. Both groups expressed the intent to start taking a daily multivitamin after viewing the ads—adolescents for themselves and mothers to start their daughters on a daily multivitamin. There was no relationship between participants’ health literacy and perceptions of the advertisements or intentions to begin a multivitamin habit. This research illustrates the potential of messages that rely on peripheral health benefits to overcome communication barriers posed by health literacy and address serious health problems such as NTDs.
Highlights
Neural tube defects (NTDs) are among the most severe types of birth defects and affect nearly 4,000 newborns annually in the United States (Helinski, Trauth, Jernigan, & Kerr, 2004; Kannan, Menotti, Scherer, Dickinson, & Larson, 2007)
In seeking to create new health promotion campaigns to address the issue of NTDs, it is useful to provide background on health literacy as context for developing new campaigns and the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a conceptual framework for thinking through what new campaigns might look like
Mothers responded to a series of statements about benefits of and barriers to taking a multivitamin before and after viewing the ad encouraging mothers to start their daughters on a multivitamin
Summary
Neural tube defects (NTDs) are among the most severe types of birth defects and affect nearly 4,000 newborns annually in the United States (Helinski, Trauth, Jernigan, & Kerr, 2004; Kannan, Menotti, Scherer, Dickinson, & Larson, 2007). Research indicates that periconceptional (at least 1 month before conception and in early pregnancy) consumption of folic acid can decrease the risk of NTDs by 50% to 72% (Helinski et al, 2004; Lindsey et al, 2009) Despite this recommendation, a disparity in NTD-affected pregnancies exists among different racial and ethnic groups within the United States; prevalence rates for anencephaly in Hispanics is 2.84 per 10,000 live births, 1.98 for non-Hispanic Whites, and 1.80 for non-Hispanic Blacks. Low health literacy often leads to poorer health outcomes due to a variety of factors, including the individual’s lack of understanding health professional’s instructions (DeWalt, Berkman, Sheridan, Lohr, & Pignone, 2004; Kalichman et al, 2000; Lindau et al, 2002; Schillinger et al, 2002).
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