Compliance with iron-folic acid (IFA) therapy among pregnant women in an urban area of south India

Abstract

Background: 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. Objective: To estimate the compliance for IFA tablets among pregnant women and to study the social factors influencing it. Methodology: 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. Results: 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. Conclusion: There was a moderate level of compliance towards IFA tablets with key social and demographic factors playing an important role.

Effect of a community-based approach of iron and folic acid supplementation on compliance by pregnant women in Kiambu County, Kenya: A quasi-experimental study

“…This means there was an improvement in the proportion of women who consistently took the IFAS tablets as recommended. These findings were similar to a coverage of 67% reported in urban Nairobi County [40] in Kenya and 64.7% reported in India [41] respectively. However, the findings were higher than reports on IFAS coverage from low and medium income countries (LMIC) with similar rural settings namely, South Ethiopia (39.2%), Pakistan (38.3%), [38], Nigeria (37.5%) [42] and Western Ethiopia (20.4%) [20].…”

Determinants of Iron Consumption among Pregnant Women in Southern Senegal

“…This low proportion has also been found in several developing countries such as Cambodia, Mali, Nepal and Indonesia, where they are respectively 47%, 28%, 20.7% and 40% [17] [18] [19] [20]. However, relatively high rates have also been observed in other developing countries such as Nigeria [21] and India [22] where the authors reported rates of 65.9% and 64.7%, respectively. In Europe, studies of pregnant English women indicated that 70% of these women adhered to iron supplementation [23] [24].…”

Socioeconomic Determinants of Maternal Anemia: A Disaggregated Level Analysis From Assam, India

“…As per the recommendation of WHO (DeMaeyer, 1989), amount of iron absorption is influenced by the combination of foods taken in a given meal. Studies by Galloway and McGuire(1994), Hallberg et al, (1966), Beard (2000), Mithra et al, (2013) have argued that common reasons for not consuming IFA tablets are side effects, lack of access, misunderstood instructions etc. Consumption of IFA tablets is mostly influenced by age, socioeconomic status, community awareness regarding importance of IFA tablets.…”