ABSTRACT

Micronutrient deficiencies in women of reproductive age (WRA) are known to impair health, pregnancy outcomes and growth as well as the development of their offspring. This study was designed to assess pre-conceptual micronutrient supplementation behaviour among women of reproductive age in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State. Cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study. A multi-stage sampling techniques was used to select 189 respondents that participated in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on sociodemographic characteristics, awareness, knowledge, attitude and micronutrient intake pattern. Data obtained from the study were subjected to statistical analysis, using statistical package for service software (SPSS) version 23. The result obtained was presented in frequency table and correlation was used to test level of relationship between some variables and p-value less than 0.05 was statistically accepted. Findings of the study showed that more than half (61.4%) of the respondents that participated in the study were within the ages of 23-29years and 38.6% of the respondents remaining were 30-38years. Majority (84.1%) of the respondents had tertiary education, 57.7% of the respondents were housewife and 65.1% of the respondents earn less than N30, 000. About 90.5% of the respondents were aware of micronutrient supplementation and 9.5% were not aware. Findings of the study further showed that higher percentage (43.9%) of the respondents had good knowledge, 33.3% of the respondents had fair knowledge and 6.3% of them had excellent knowledge while 6.3% of the respondents had poor knowledge of micronutrients supplementation. Majority (89.7%) of the respondents had positive attitude towards micronutrients supplementation and few (10.3%) of respondents remaining had negative attitude towards micronutrients supplementation. Many of the respondents had good micronutrient intake pattern. Hypothetically, there was a significant relationship between knowledge, attitude and intake pattern. The study is recommend to health personnel to educate and sensitize women of reproductive age on the importance of intake of preconceptual micronutrients and the severity attached to its non-compliance.