Impact of weekly versus daily iron-folic acid supplementation for pregnant women with anemia on hemoglobin levels, clinical symptoms and subjective complaints

Background: Iron-Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation programs for pregnant women have been implemented for many years in Indonesia but the prevalence of anemia in pregnant women remains high largely due to low adherence to taking IFA tablets and side effects. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the low compliance with IFA supplementation in pregnant mothers with anemia and associated negative side effects. Methodology: The current study compared the effectiveness of short-term IFA supplementation in pregnant mothers given IFA weekly versus daily for 8 weeks using a pre- and post-test experimental design. Each IFA tablet contained 200 mg ferrous sulfate and 0.25 mg folic acid. The number of respondents in each group included 47 pregnant women with mild anemia. Hemoglobin (Hb) levels were analyzed using the cyanmethemoglobin method. Results: Mean Hb levels pretreatment were the same for both groups, as well as nutrition intake during treatment and socioeconomic conditions, such as education, family income and nutrition knowledge. Changes in Hb levels in the two treatment groups did not differ significantly (p = 0.685), although both groups had increased Hb levels (weekly, 0.5 g dL^-1; daily, 0.6 g dL^-1). Clinical symptoms and subjective complaints related to anemia and iron consumption also showed improvement in both treatment groups. Conclusion: It is concluded that short-term IFA supplementation whether given daily or weekly effectively increases Hb level in pregnant women with anemia and improves clinical symptoms, as well as subjective complaints.