IFA utilization and factors associated with IFA utilization among pregnant women attending ANC at government health facilities and family guidance clinic in Hawassa city, South Ethiopia

Background: Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder in the world, and most prevalent in women of reproductive age. Iron supplementation is a common strategy currently used to control iron deficiency, and iron deficiency anemia in developing countries. However, it is not clear whether women actually ingest the supplements. Objectives: To assess IFA utilization and factors associated with IFA utilization among pregnant women attending ANC at government health facilities and family guidance clinic in Hawassa city, South Ethiopia. Methods: : Facility based cross-sectional survey was conducted in March /2015. Sample size is determined by using single and double population proportion. Consecutive sampling technique was used to select study units. Data was collected by trained unemployed diploma nurses using a pretested structured questionnaire. It was cleaned and checked for completeness and then entered in to Epi-info 3.2.2 and exported to SPSS 16.o software for analysis. Predictors were found out using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 412 pregnant women who came to attend ANC at least for the second time were interviewed in seven health facilities. Our study showed that 333 (81%, 95% CI: 77.2 −84.8) pregnant women reported taking IFA supplement and compliance was 37.7% (95%CI: 32.5-42.9). In multivariable analysis, side effects and low acceptance of the supplement were significantly associated with high compliance to IFA supplementation (P < 0.05). Conclusion: There was a better level of compliance towards IFA supplementation compared to other national data. Pregnant women should be counseled regarding how to manage the side effects of IFA supplement during ANC. Further research has to be done on the acceptability of the supplements.