Abstract
Objectives: To explore the knowledge and attitudes of female medical students about vitamin and folic acid supplementation during pregnancy.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out with women of reproductive age (15-49 years) who attended the outpatient clinic at Taibah University main campus. A total of 149 women participated. A specially designed interviewing questionnaire in Arabic was used, which included socio-demographic data, obstetric history, knowledge about vitamins and folic acid and attitude toward using them. The mean percentage scores for knowledge and attitude about vitamins and folic acid were calculated. The chi squared test, Fisher's exact test and Student's t test were used.
Results: The mean score for knowledge about vitamins was 75.8 +/- 12.70, and the mean score for knowledge that some factors are teratogenic was 41.6 - 9.53. All the women knew about possible sources of folic acid, and the mean attitude score was 67.1 +/- 13.40. The mean score for knowledge about folic acid of women who had ever been pregnant was 54.9 +/- 9.04, and their mean attitude score for vitamin and folic acid intake was 56.4 +/- 10.55.
Conclusion: The women studied, especially those who had never married, had fairly little knowledge about vitamins and folic acid and the teratogenic effects of certain substances. Women who had been pregnant also knew little about folic acid and had a low attitude score with regard to both vitamins and folic acid.