title: Compliance with iron-folic acid (IFA) therapy among pregnant women in an urban area of south India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anaemia is highly prevalent among pregnant women and iron deficiency is the most important cause. Like many other countries, India has policies to give pregnant women iron supplements. Non-compliance is one important challenging factor in combating anaemia.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the compliance for IFA tablets among pregnant women and to study the social factors influencing it.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 190 pregnant women seeking ante-natal care in tertiary health Centres in the Mangalore city in South India. After Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) approval, data was collected by personal interview. Missing ≥2 doses consecutively was considered non-compliance. The data was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 11.5.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the study population was 25.8 years (SD: 4.1). Majority of the subjects consumed mixed diet and 72.1% belonged to lower socioeconomic status. Overall, compliance with IFA tablets was 64.7%. Compliance increased with the increase in age, birth order and single daily dose. Forgetfulness and both perceived as well as experienced side effects of IFA therapy were the important factors for non-compliance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a moderate level of Compliance towards IFA tablets with key social and demographic factors playing important role.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College (Manipal University), Mangalore; India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mithra
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College (Manipal University), Mangalore; India.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Unnikrishnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College (Manipal University), Mangalore; India.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rekha
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College (Manipal University), Mangalore; India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nithin
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College (Manipal University), Mangalore; India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College (Manipal University), Mangalore; India.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College (Manipal University), Mangalore; India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Holla
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College (Manipal University), Mangalore; India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Agarwal
mesh_terms: D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid; D007501:Iron
keywords: compliance; demographic; folic acid; iron; social; tablets