Abstract
Objectives:
to identify factors associated with non-use of iron supplements (IS) by pregnant women attending National Health System (SUS) prenatal care in the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro.
Methods:
a cross-sectional study was conducted in 2007/2008 with a representative sample of pregnant women using SUS hospitals and basic care in the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro. The group that had gestational age of ≥ 20 weeks at the time of the interview and who had been prescribed IS (n=1407) was subjected to a Poisson multiple regression model to estimate the association between use and independent variables.
Results:
of the 1407 pregnant women, 65% reported use of IS. Younger age, black skin/race, larger number of births, not having received guidance on use of IS, not having tried to obtain IS at the SUS (with a stronger association between pregnant women with lower levels of education and lower household assets indicator - HAI) and not having been able to obtain them at the SUS (amongpregnant women with lower HAI) were significantly associated with non-use.
Conclusions:
the guidance of health professionals regarding use of IS and their regular availability may increase adherence to prescription among pregnant women and prevent iron deficiency anemia.
Key words
Anemia; Anemia, iron-deficiency; Ferrous sulfate; Prenatal care; Pregnancy; Epidemiologic factors