Knowledge about folic acid supplementation before and during pregnancy among female medical fields students

Mroczek Anna, Bałabuszek Kamil, Pawlicka Marta, Semczuk-Sikora Anna. Knowledge about folic acid supplementation before and during pregnancy among female medical fields students. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2018;8(9):1016-1027. eISNN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1419790 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/5996 https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/sedno-webapp/works/877696 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part b item 1223 (26/01/2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eissn 2391-8306 7 © The Authors 2018; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 02.09.2018. Revised: 12.09.2018. Accepted: 15.09.2018. Knowledge about folic acid supplementation before and during pregnancy among female medical fields students Anna Mroczek1, Kamil Bałabuszek2, Marta Pawlicka1, Anna Semczuk-Sikora3 1 Students' Research Circle at the Department of Obstetrics and Pathology of Pregnancy, Medical University of Lublin, Poland 2 Students' Research Circle at the Chair and Department of Epidemiology and Clinical Research Methodology, Medical University of Lublin, Poland 3 Department of Obstetrics and Pathology of Pregnancy, Medical University of Lublin, Poland ORCID ID Anna Mroczek https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0077-5343 Kamil Bałabuszek https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1352-153X Marta Pawlicka https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6631-979X Anna Semczuk-Sikora https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9602-5904 Abstract: Pregnancy is a period when optimal supply of vitamins and micro and macro elements is necessary to ensure proper fetal development and maternal health. One of the substances that has been shown to have a positive effect on the fetus is folic acid. Deficiency of this compound is associated with an increased risk of neural tube defects in the fetus. As a consequence, the awareness of women about the role of folic acid and necessity of its supplementation in the preconception period and during pregnancy is crucial. In order to obtain information on the knowledge of women regarding the need to take folic acid and the benefits associated with it, an anonymous questionnaire was carried out. The survey containing 28 original questions in an online form was sent to participants. The study showed deficiencies in the knowledge of female students of reproductive age regarding folic acid supplementation and the need to promote it. Therefore, it is necessary to include as many young women as possible to The Primary Prevention Program of Neural Tube Defects. Abstrakt: Ciąża to okres, w którym konieczna jest optymalna podaż witamin oraz mikro i makroelementów, aby zapewnić prawidłowy rozwój płodu i zdrowie matki. Jedną z substancji, której pozytywny wpływ na płód jednoznacznie udowodniono jest kwas foliowy. Niedobór tego związku wiążę się ze zwiększonym ryzykiem wystąpienia wad cewy nerwowej u płodu. Dlatego tak ważna jest wiedza kobiet na temat roli kwasu foliowego oraz jego suplementacja już w okresie przedkoncepcyjnym oraz w trakcie ciąży. W celu uzyskania informacji na temat wiedzy kobiet dotyczącej konieczności przyjmowania kwasu foliowego i korzyści z tego płynących przeprowadzono anonimowy kwestionariusz. Ankieta zawierała 28 oryginalnych pytań w formie elektronicznej i została przesłana uczestnikom. Badanie wykazało braki w wiedzy na temat suplementacji kwasu foliowego u studentek oraz konieczność jej propagowania. W tym celu należy objąć jak największą ilość młodych kobiet Programem Pierwotnej Profilaktyki Wad Cewy Nerwowej