Adherence rate to iron folic acid supplementation among pregnant women

IntroductionGlobally 41.8% of pregnant women are anemic with the highest proportion affected in developing countries. Nationally, only 0.4% of the pregnant women take Iron supplements more than 90 days of the recommended 180 days. In Oromiya region 75.3% of pregnant women do not take any iron tablets or syrup during their last pregnancy, while 10.8% take for less than 60 days, 0.4% took for 60-89 days and only 0.3% took for 90 days or more. ObjectiveTo assess the adherence rate to iron and folic acid supplements among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Asella Town, south east Ethiopia Method and materialsInstitution based cross-sectional quantitative study design was conducted in Asella town from September 2015 to June 2016. A purposive sampling technique used to select the health institution. There are six health institutions selected for this study. The sample size 317 was selected with systematic random sampling method. Ten percent of pre-test was conducted in one institution which is not included in data collection. Data were collected using structured pre-tested questionnaire. Before data collection verbal consent was obtained. The collected data were analyzed using Epi-data and SPSS version 22.00 packages. ResultThe study revealed that Out of 317 pregnant women 296 (93%) responded to the questioner. The study revealed that 177 (59.8%) of pregnant mothers in the town adhered to the iron/folic acid supplement. Conclusion and recommendationAdherence of iron/folic acid supplementation found in this study is very low. Consequently, maternal education, adequate supplement supply to the health facility, early starting antenatal visit, and health education on duration of supplementation