Abstract

SILVA, Carla; PINTO, Elisabete  and  KEATING, Elisa. Folic acid supplementation in pregnancy: clinical awareness and practice in Porto region. Acta Port Nutr [online]. 2019, n.19, pp.6-11. ISSN 2183-5985.  https://doi.org/10.21011/apn.2019.1902.

Introduction: Folic acid supplements reimbursed by the Portuguese Government that contain solely this vitamin have a dose 12.5 times higher than the daily dose recommended by the World Health Organization. So, it is expectable that Portuguese pregnant women are taking excessive folic acid supplementation. On the other hand, the beginning of supplementation rarely occurred in the preconception, as desirable. Objectives: To explore the perceptions and clinical practices concerning the prescription of folic acid supplementation in pregnancy and to identify the beneficial and adverse effects acknowledged by the physicians regarding this supplementation. Methodology: Twelve semi-structured interviews were performed (Specialists in Family Medicine (n=6) or specialists in Obstetrics (n=6) working at primary care units and hospitals of the Grande Porto region) and the content was codified in categories and sub-categories and analysed with NVIVO 10.0 software. Results: We could observe that: a) all the physicians acknowledged the relevance of folic acid supplementation in pregnancy for the prevention of neural tube defects, b) the physicians recognized that compliance by pregnant women to folic acid intake is very high (n=12); c) all the physicians acknowledge the difficulty to comply with the ideal timing for folic acid supplementation before conception; d) the ideal folic acid dose is largely unknown by the physicians (n=7). Conclusions: Considering recent studies that suggest adverse effects of excessive and chronologically unsuitable folic acid supplementation, this study evidences that there should be a national joint effort towards the homogenization of clinical practices regarding the prescription of folic acid supplementation in pregnancy.

Keywords : Folic acid; Pregnancy; Family medicine; Obstetrics; Supplementation period.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )