Adherence to Iron–Folic Acid Supplementation and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women at Felege Hiwot Compressive Specialized Hospital, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Background: Iron deficiency is the most significant contributor to the onset of anemia accounting for 75% of anemia cases that occurs during pregnancy worldwide. Adherence to iron and folic acid supplementation is one of the determinant factors to prevent anemia during pregnancy. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of adherence and associated factors for iron-folic acid supplementation among pregnant women. Method: Cross sectional study was conducted at Felege Hiwot Compressive Specialized Hospital from April 1 to August 30, 2019. Data was collected from 390 pregnant women who attended ANC follow up using interviewer administered structured questionnaire and from patients’ registry book. Descriptive analysis was done on socio-demographic, obstetric and medical related characteristics. Binary and multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with IFAS adherence. Results: 67.4% of pregnant women were adherent to iron and folic acid supplementation. Being counseled about IFAS (AOR=2.30; 95% CI: 1.21-4.34), having good knowledge about IFAS (AOR= 4.22; 95% CI: 2.43-7.31), more than 3 antenatal care visits (AOR=3.50; 95% CI: 1.55-7.92), having previous ANC follow up in tertiary hospital (AOR=2.61; 95% CI: 1.30-5.27), and having no history of hypertension (AOR=3.07; 95% CI: 1.37-6.89) were significantly associated with IFAS adherence. Lack of adequate counseling about anemia and IFAS mainly contributes to non-adherence. Conclusion: In this study, counseling about IFAS, Knowledge about IFAS, frequency of ANC visit, previous ANC follow up center and history of hypertension were significantly associated with IFAS adherence. Keywords: Adherence, Folic Acid, Iron, Pregnant Women.