Intention to Take Folic Acid to Prevent Birth Defect Among Married Reproductive-Aged Women, Chonburi Province

Abstract

This study aimed at identifying factors related to intention to take folic acid to prevent birth defect among married of reproductive age women. The research was done by a cross-sectional survey study. Data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire among 400 married, reproductive aged women whose age was between 20-34 years old. Two-stage random sampling, stratified sampling and simple randomization by grouping of labels method. In the area subdistrict health promotion hospitals, Muang District and Sattahip District. The data collection was done from January 2018 to September 2019. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, analytical statistics with the chi-square test. The results revealed that 48.2% of the respondents had their intention to take folic acid during pregnancy and eight factors could predict probability of taking folic acid with Education level, Average monthly income, Sufficiency of income, Level of knowledge on folic acid, Attitude on folic acid taking, Subjective norms of family members, Subjective norms of health professionals, Self-efficacy to take folic acid Significant at p-value < 0.05 Healthcare services and health professionals in Chonburi Province should promote knowledge and understanding to raise awareness on the prevention of birth defects among women of reproductive age their families, and communities in order to enhance positive attitude and perception on self-efficacy to take folic acid at least 3 months prior to their pregnancy.