Women's Awareness and Associated Factors on Preconception Folic Acid Supplementation in Adet, Northwestern Ethiopia, 2016: Implication of Reproductive Health

INTRODUCTION: Preconception folic acid supplementation is the provision of folate for reproductive age group women who have a plan to be pregnant. According to different studies, in African countries, there is poor utilization of preconception folic supplementation. So this study aimed at assessing women's awareness on preconception care and its associated factors in Adet, Northwestern Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 1 to April 1, 2016, among 422 reproductive age group women. Systematic random sampling was used to get the study unit, and the data were collected using pretested structured questionnaire via face-to-face interview. The collected data were entered, cleaned, checked using EpiData version 3.1, and finally analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive summary of the data was presented in terms of percentage and frequency. Binary and multiple logistic regressions were used in order to identify predictors using odds ratio at 95% confidence interval. RESULT: In this study, a total of 422 reproductive age group women participated with a response rate of 100%. Of a total of 422 participants, 67 (15.9%) of the women had good awareness on preconception folic acid supplementation. Women's awareness on preconception folic acid supplementation was affected by having a chronic health problem, monthly household income, educational status, and a history of family planning use. Women who were educated (AOR 4.77, CI 1.85–6.98), had a history of family planning use (AOR 3.89, CI 1.77–8.55), had a chronic health problem (AOR 3.47, CI 2.68–5.98), and had a better monthly income (AOR 2.6, CI 2.05–6.76) had good awareness than their counterparts. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: This study concluded that women's awareness on preconception folic acid supplementation was low. This finding suggests that there is a need to give emphasis and deliver health education about preconception folic acid supplementation for women.