Awareness of Folic Acid Intake Before and During Early Pregnancy at A Primary Health Polyclinic in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective: To assess awareness and attitudes towards folic acid intake before and during early pregnancy.
Study Design:A cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in a primary health polyclinic of King Faisal University in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia from 18 December 2022 to 30 March 2023.
Materials and Methods: The study employed a 22-item self-constructed questionnaire, developed after a thorough literature review. It encompassed six socio-demographic, two obstetric, four awareness, six knowledge, and three attitudes items. A sample of 385 females participated through systematic randomized sampling. SPSS software version 26.0 was used for data analysis.
Results: About 40% (157) of participants were 36-45 years old and the mean age was 33.24 years with an 8.68 SD. While 89.4% (344) were married, 76.4% (294) were Saudi nationals, 51.7% (199) had a monthly income of 5000-10000 riyals, 41.8 % (161) were employed, 62.4% (241) held bachelor's degrees, 58.4% (211) were pregnant, 75.6% (291) had children, 42.9% (165) had heard of NTD and 3.1% (12) had neural tube defects affected children. A good knowledge score was achieved by 72.4% of participants, age 18-25 years, married
status, students, and low income showed statistically significant association with knowledge level (p<0.05). Participants' affirmative attitude showed statistical significance (p<0.05) with their good knowledge.
Conclusion: Participants reflected good knowledge scores and a positive attitude about folic acid intake but had low awareness of neural tube defects and less knowledge regarding folic acid dose in a low-risk pregnancy.