Family-centered Health Education Intervention for Improving Iron-folic Acid Adherence and Anemia Reduction among Antenatal Mothers in Rural Jodhpur: A Quasi-experimental Study.

Background: Anemia is one of the global public health concerns. Despite the availability of effective treatment options, reducing its prevalence remains challenging.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate family-centered health education intervention in improving iron - folic acid adherence and anemia status, knowledge, attitude, and practices.

Materials and methods: A quasi-experimental community interventional trial was conducted. Employing a multistage cluster-randomized sampling technique, intervention and control areas were identified. All pregnant women of gestational age 14-16 weeks with mild and moderate anemia were included and interviewed along with hemoglobin and ferritin estimation.

Results: Change in adherence, knowledge, attitude, practice, and anemia status was assessed after the follow-up period for both groups. The results revealed significant improvements in knowledge, attitude, practice, adherence to iron supplements, and anemia status within the intervention group. The participants with moderate anemia decreased from an initial value of 38.66% to 7.25%, whereas mild anemia reduced from 61.33% to 21.74%. Moreover, the mean hemoglobin level showed a significant difference from 9.8 ± 1.3 g/dL at baseline to 10.8 ± 0.5 g/dL at the end line, whereas the serum ferritin level increased from 12.5 ± 8.7 μg/dL to 19.0 ± 7.6 μg/dL. The difference-in-difference analysis revealed 0.78 g/dL hemoglobin and 4.72 μg/dL ferritin improvement in the intervention group is due to family-centered health education.

Conclusion: Family-centered health education in multiple modes of intervention improved the adherence to iron supplements and anemia status and increased the knowledge, attitude, and practices toward the same, among pregnant women along with their family members.