Effect of a community-based approach of iron and folic acid supplementation on compliance by pregnant women in Kiambu County, Kenya: a quasi-experimental study
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Date
2020-01-10Author
Kamau, M. W.
Kimani, S. T.
Mirie, W.
Mugoya, I. K
Type
ArticleLanguage
en_USMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Introduction
Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (IFAS) is an essential and affordable intervention strategy
for prevention of anaemia during pregnancy. The supplements are currently provided
for free to pregnant women in Kenya during antenatal care (ANC), but compliance remains
low over the years. There is need for diversification of IFAS programme implementation by
exploring other distribution channels to complement existing antenatal distribution and
ensure consistent access to IFAS supplements.
Objectives
To determine the effect of a community-based approach of IFAS distribution on compliance
and assess side-effects experienced and their mitigation by pregnant women in Kiambu
County.
Methodology
A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study design was used, consisting of an intervention
and a control group, among 340 pregnant women 15–49 years, in five health facilities in Lari
Sub-County in Kiambu County, between June 2016 and March 2017. Community health volunteers
provided IFAS supplements, counselling and weekly follow-up to pregnant women
in the intervention group while the control group followed standard practice from health facilities.
Baseline and endline data were collected during antenatal care and compared. Quantitative
data was analyzed using STATA version 14. Analysis of effect of intervention was
done using Difference-In-Difference regression approach.
Results
Levels of compliance increased by 8% in intervention group and 6% in control group. There
was increased awareness of IFAS side-effects across groups. The intervention group reported experiencing less side-effects and were better able to manage them compared to
the control group.
Conclusion
Implementation a community-based approach improved maternal compliance with IFAS,
awareness of IFAS side effects and their management, with better improvement being
recorded in the intervention group. Hence, there is need to integrate community-based
approach with antenatal distribution of IFAS to improve supplementation.
URI
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227351http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/109194
Citation
Kamau, M. W., Kimani, S. T., Mirie, W., & Mugoya, I. K. (2020). Effect of a community-based approach of iron and folic acid supplementation on compliance by pregnant women in Kiambu County, Kenya: A quasi-experimental study. PloS one, 15(1), e0227351.Publisher
PloS one
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- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10385]