Adherence to iron and folic acid supplementation and prevalence of anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION: Anemia during pregnancy has a significant adverse effect on both the mother and fetus. Iron and folic acid supplementation (IFAS) is the feasible and cost effective strategy to control and prevent anemia in pregnancy. However, the success of this strategy is suboptimal due to poor maternal adherences to the regimen. The aim of this study was to assess prevalence of anemia, rate of adherence to IFAS and associated factors among pregnant women at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Ethiopia. METHOD: Institution based cross sectional study was conducted among 250 pregnant women who were selected using systematic random sampling from antenatal care clinic (ANC) attendants of TASH. Data was collected through interview and medical chart review by using structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed by SPSS v.24. Binary logistic regression was used to identify the associated factors for IFAS and P < 0.05 was used to declare the association. RESULTS: The prevalence of anemia was 4.8% and half of the study participants were knowledgeable about anemia. The rate of adherence to IFAS was 63.6%. Forgetfulness and fear of side effect were the commonest reasons for poor adherence to IFAS. Gestational age at first ANC visit and educational level were significantly associated with adherence to IFAS. Thus, pregnant women who started their ANC follow up at first trimester (AOR = 1.87, 95% CI (1.18–3.36)) and education level of college and above (AOR = 4.236, 95% CI (1.35–13.25)) and completed secondary education (AOR = 4.09, 95% CI (1.39–12.02)) were more likely to be adherent to IFAS compared with their comparators. CONCLUSION: Even though anemia prevalence was very low among the study participants, adherence to IFAS was still a challenge during pregnancy. Therefore, counseling about IFAS and anemia prevention and promoting the benefits of early ANC visit are recommended to improve adherence to IFAS.