Adherence to Prophylactic Ferrous Sulphate and Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women Attending ANC Service in Public Health Facilities of Arba-Minch Town, Southern Ethiopia

Background: Ante natal care is a care given for pregnant   mothers to ensure the safe progress of the pregnancy. According to the standard of the World health organization, a woman is expected to have at least four ante natal visits before the end of her pregnancy. The purpose of ante natal follow-up is for early identification and treatment of pregnancy related problems that can cost the life of both the mother and the growing fetus. Many health problems affecting varied communities in the world are directly related with deficiency of one or more nutrients. Anemia is a worldwide health problem even though its prevalence is much higher in third world countries especially among women who face an increase in iron demands targeted at satisfying iron requirements of the mother and the fetus. As primary prevention, pregnant women are advised to increase the intake of diets rich in iron such as meat, cereals and varied fruits. Anemia will end  in   multitudes  of  effects  and  complications unless  early  detection  and  treatment  is  there.  The effect doubles when it coincides with pregnancy.  Currently, there is no sufficient information on the magnitude of adherence to prophylactic ferrous sulphate supplementation among pregnant women attending Ante natal care in most public health facilities of Ethiopia and the study area in particular. Therefore, the purpose of this study was  to assess the  adherence  to  prophylactic  ferrous  sulphate  among  pregnant  women  attending  Ante natal care  in  Public  health  facilities  of   Arba-Minch  town, southern Ethiopia .The general objective of this study was to  assess    adherence  to  prophylactic  ferrous  sulphate among  pregnant  women  attending  ante natal  service  in  Public  health  facilities  of  Arba-Minch  town,2016. In the method section, a health institution   based   cross-sectional   study was conducted   in Public health facilities of Arba-Minch Town among 350 pregnant women who have visited public health facilities of Arba Minch town during   the   study   period .Primary data was collected by using structured interviewer administered Amharic version questionnaire. After the data were fully entered to Epi-info version 3.5.1, the analysis was made by using SPSS version 20.0. A bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with adherence. According to this study, iron intake for a minimum of three months during the whole course of pregnancy was 83(24.06%). In the multivariable analysis, obstetric characteristics were associated with adherence to prophylactic ferrous sulphate supplementation .There was significant association between adherence and gestational age (AOR=8.363 and CI=2.509-27.877).The odds of adherence was 8.363 times higher in the third trimester compared to the respondents in the second trimester. There was also significant association between adherence and the number of ante natal follow-ups (AOR= 2.321 and CI=1.087-4.955). The odds of adherence among the respondents with more than four antenatal follow -ups was 2.321 times higher compared to the respondents with less than or equal to four ante natal follow- ups. As the adherence rate to prophylactic ferrous sulphate among women attending public health facilities in Arba Minch Town was only 24.06%, all health professionals should continuously inform and encourage the pregnant women to increase Ante natal visits