Current status of folic acid supplementation in women at child-bearing age in suburban area of Beijing / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To access the current status of folic acid supplementation in women at childbearing age in suburban area of Beijing,2016.Methods In this cross-sectional study,a total of 722 women aged 17-41 years from six hospitals in suburban areas of Beijing were selected through cluster sampling.A questionnaire survey was conducted.Results The rates of folic acid intake and regular folic acid intake among women under survey were 63.9％ (456/714) and 83.3％ (380/456).In women who remembered the duration of folic acid supplementation,the overall rate of preconceptional folic acid supplementation was 35.5％ (159/450),in whom 27.3％ (123/450) began to take folic acid 0-3 months before pregnancy;8.0％ (36/450) began to take folic acid 3 months before pregnancy.Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that household registering type,preparation for pregnancy or pregnancy,parity,smoking and alcohol use were the influencing factors for folic acid supplementation.Conclusions The rate of folic acid supplementation remained low in childbearing aged women in suburban area of Beijing.It is necessary to further strengthen the health education about the importance of folic acid supplementation to improve the intake rate and the regular intake rate of folic acid in pregnant women and to promote maternal infant health and reduce the related complications.