Maternal periconceptional folic acid supplementation and its effects on the prevalence of fetal neural tube defects

  • Lei JIN ,
  • Cheng WANG ,
  • Jie ZHANG ,
  • Wen-ying MENG ,
  • Jia-yu ZHANG ,
  • Jin-hui YU ,
  • Gui-yin LIN ,
  • Ming-kun TONG ,
  • Lei JIN
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  • 1. Department of Maternal Health Care, Tongzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Beijing, Beijing 101100, China
    2. Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, Peking University; Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Peking University School of Public Health; Beijing 100191, China
    3. Department of Obstetrics, Tongzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Beijing, Beijing 101100, China

Received date: 2019-01-07

  Online published: 2020-08-06

Supported by

National Key R&D Program of China(2018YFC1004300);National Key R&D Program of China(2018YFC1004301)

Abstract

Objective: To find out the status of folic acid supplementation among women, to evaluate the prevention effects on neural tube defects (NTDs), and to explore the factors impact on folic acid supplementation compliance. Methods: Based on the routine data of 92 121 women in prenatal health care and birth defect surveillance system in Tongzhou District of Beijing from 2013 to 2018, we described the prevalence of periconceptional folic acid supplementation, pre-pregnancy folic acid supplementation and regularly folic acid supplementation (compliance supplementation). Trend χ 2 tests were used to evaluate the change of folic acid supplementation prevalence. The prevalence difference among the women with folic acid supplementation and without supplementation were tested with Fisher’s exact test. Factors asso-ciated with folic acid supplementation compliance rate were analyzed with univariate and multivariate Logistic regression model. Results: The prevalence of periconceptional folic acid supplementation during the six years was 90.08% and it was increased from 2013 to 2018, but the rate of pre-pregnancy and regular supplementation was only 41.5% and declined from 2013 to 2018, especially 2013 to 2015. The prevalence of NTDs among the fetuses whose mothers took folic acid during periconceptional period was 5.5/10 000, while the prevalence for the fetuses whose mothers did not take folic acid was 19.7/10 000 (P<0.001), the rates ratio was 27.9% (χ2=23.74, P<0.001). The difference between the prevalence of NTDs among the fetuses whose mothers took folic acid only and multiple micronutrients was not statistically significant. After controlling the confounding factors, it was found that the compliant folic acid supplementation rates in women, whose household registrations were outside Beijing and whose education levels were junior high school or below, and who were younger than 25 years old, and who were multiparas and who were pre-pregnancy underweight or obese, were lower than those of the corresponding control groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: The rate of folic acid supplementation among women in Tongzhou District of Beijing was relatively high, but their compliance was poor. Women who did not take folic acid during periconception seriously affected the prevention effect of NTDs. We should focus on women who are younger than 25 years old, lower educated, pre-pregnancy underweight or obese, multiparas and nonlocal household registers, in order to improve the periconceptional folic acid supplementation compliance and improve the effects of NTDs prevention.

Cite this article

Lei JIN , Cheng WANG , Jie ZHANG , Wen-ying MENG , Jia-yu ZHANG , Jin-hui YU , Gui-yin LIN , Ming-kun TONG , Lei JIN . Maternal periconceptional folic acid supplementation and its effects on the prevalence of fetal neural tube defects[J]. Journal of Peking University(Health Sciences), 2020 , 52(4) : 719 -725 . DOI: 10.19723/j.issn.1671-167X.2020.04.024

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