THE ROLE OF FOLIC ACID IN PREVENTING BIRTH DEFECTS: RESULTS OF ANONYMOUS QUESTIONNAIRES OF THE FEMALE POPULATION OF THE LVIV REGION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11603/24116-4944.2019.1.9888Keywords:
pregnancy, congenital malformations, preconception prevention, folic acidAbstract
The aim of the study – to learn the awareness of the female population of Lviv region about the role of folic acid (FA) in the prevention of fetus development congenital deformities.
Materials and Methods. A survey of pregnant women in the Lviv region was conducted and an analysis of 811 questionnaires of respondents was carried out. Following questions were researched about the medicine usage: dose (100, 200, 400 or 500 micrograms), before and during current pregnancy, the duration of the medicine intake, before conception and the first three months of pregnancy, as well as awareness of the population regarding the preconceptional effect of folic acid.
Results and Discussion. The analysis of the data of questionnaires showed that among 811 women, 622 lived in the city (76.69 %), and 189 (23.31 %) – in the village. The study of pregnancy parity showed that there were significantly more women with the 1st and 2nd pregnancy (48.20 % and 33.97 % respectively). Women who were the first to know about the importance of FA were pregnant for the first (30.83 %) and the second (25.40 %) time, many of them were residents of the city. Most of the respondents got to know about the FA from doctors – 58.08 %, and most of these women were rather from the city than from the village (46.0 % and 12.08 % respectively, P <0.001). Only 40.44 % used FA before pregnancy for one to three months. A total of about 1/3 (37.73 %) of women took FA in a dose of 400 micrograms. Moreover, 26.26 % of respondents used the medicine for 2 months before pregnancy and 41.92 % – for three months during pregnancy. Significantly, they were rather inhabitants of the city than villages (P <0.001).
Conclusions. It was established that among the female population of Lviv region, awareness of folic acid as the best genuine prevention of fetus development congenital deformities is not sufficient. This refers to the data on the medication itself, its dose and terms and duration of use.
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