Promotora de salud: promoting folic acid use among Hispanic women.
BACKGROUND
The U.S. Public Health Service recommends that all women in the United States capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 μg of folic acid daily to reduce their risk of having a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect (NTD). However, disparities exist in the consumption of folic acid, with Hispanic women having lower rates of folic acid consumption than non-Hispanic white women.


METHODS
A community-based feasibility study was designed to assess the utility of the promotora de salud model to promote consumption of multivitamins containing folic acid for the prevention of NTDs among Spanish-speaking Hispanic women in North Carolina. The study consisted of an educational intervention given by a promotora (a lay, community health worker), with data collection occurring at baseline and four months post-intervention to measure changes in knowledge and behavior. Overall, 52% (n=303) of participants completed all components of the study.


RESULTS
Self-reported daily multivitamin consumption increased from 24% at baseline to 71% four months post-intervention. During the same time frame, awareness of folic acid increased from 78% to 98% and knowledge of the role of folic acid in the prevention of birth defects increased from 82% to 92%.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate that the promotora de salud model may be effective in reaching a subpopulation of women with the folic acid message. Additional studies with larger population sizes are warranted to validate these findings.
1 Department of Maternal Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Leslie
L
deRosset
Amy
A
Mullenix
Alina
A
Flores
Daniel
D
Mattia-Dewey
Cara T
CT
Mai
D000328:Adult; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009657:North Carolina; D016742:Preconception Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014815:Vitamins; D055815:Young Adult
D014815:Vitamins; D005492:Folic Acid