Folic Acid Supplements Prescribing Practice During Protective Period and its Associated Factors among Health Professionals in Selected Governmental Health Centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2023.
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Date
2023
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Background; supplementing folic acid (FA) before and in the 1st month of the conception is anessential preventive factor especially for neural tube defects (NTDs) and other congenitalanomalies. However, in Ethiopia it is not given attention by policy makers, poorly administeredat the right time by healthcare professionals, less utilized by pregnant women and/or womenplanning conceive. As a result, FA deficiency and insufficiency are a major public health issue inEthiopia.
Objectives: a goal of a research was to assess folic acid supplement (FAS) prescribing practiceduring protective period and its associated factors among health professionals in selected governmental health centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2023.
Methods; Institutionalized cross-sectional survey was carried out in Addis Ababa public healthcenters with a total sample size 396 from February20-May22/2023. To choose the respondentssystematic random sampling methods was used and after each respondent's signed consent, a row data was gathered using a pretested self-administered questionnaires. The data was coded, interredto Epi data 4.6.0.6 and transferred to Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) 27 software. Thenbinary and multivariable logistic regression analysis method was used to show the associated variableswith FA prescribing practice using a confidence interval of 95% and significance value<0.05).
Result: The total prevalence of folic acid prescribing practice during periconception periodwas64.4%[95% CI (59.68-69.12]. But those prescribed during protective period was 26.7%. Evernot attended birth of neonate with NTD, not prescribing dose of 4mg folic acid (FA) for womenwith NTD, type of women whom FA was prescribed were associated with FA prescribing practice during protective period.
Conclusion and recommendations; the healthcare professional’s prescribing practice during protective period was still very low, needs more attention in order to FA strengthen FAS.
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Folic acid supplements, prescribing practice, Periconception period, Neural tube defects.