title: A nationwide program for the use of preconceptional folic acid to prevent the development of open neural tube defects. Who is really using folic acid?
abstract: A nationwide program directed at stimulating the preconceptional use of folic acid (FA) for the prevention of open neural tube defects has been in effect in Puerto Rico for the last 4 years. To evaluate its effectiveness, 479 questionnaires were distributed among pregnant patients. The average age was 27 (range 14-21), and 64.9% of the pregnancies were unplanned. Preconceptional use of FA was 31.5%, despite 87.7% of patients reporting knowledge about the importance of FA use. Only 35.4% of patients who had knowledge about FA used it prior to conception. Among patients who planned their pregnancies and knew about the importance of FA, 92/168 (54.6%) used it prior to pregnancy. With these dismal results, we believe these campaigns should re-evaluate their educational strategies and consider reduction of unplanned pregnancies as part of their goals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, PO Box 365067, San Juan, PR, USA.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de la Vega
authors.forename: Eumarie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salicrup
authors.forename: Maribelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verdiales
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016742:Preconception Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011647:Puerto Rico; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid