Abstract
Objective
To investigate the awareness and use of folic acid in European women of child-bearing age, particularly in the setting of pregnancy and pregnancy planning.
Methods
Between November 2009 and December 2009, women aged 15–49 years old from 18 European countries completed a 30-minute structured questionnaire either online or via face-to-face interviews. To achieve nationally representative samples for each country quotas were set for age, education, income, and regional distribution.
Results
A total of 22,925 women participated in the survey. Of the respondents, 58% had at least one biological child, and of these 38% reported that their first pregnancy was not planned. Nearly 60% of women who planned their pregnancy indicated that they had stopped using their method of contraception without first consulting a doctor or another health care professional. Overall, 70% reported that they had heard of folic acid and 40% stated that they knew the benefits of folic acid. However, when prompted to indicate which diseases and/or birth defects folic acid can protect against, only 17% knew that folic acid can reduce the risk of neural tube defects/spina bifida.
Conclusions
A large proportion of European women of child-bearing age in this survey were unaware that periconceptional folic acid supplementation reduces the risk of birth defects.
Supplementary material
Table S1 Questionnaire
Acknowledgments
Funding for this study was provided by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. The authors would like to thank Clare Wheatcroft and Claire Byrne of inScience Communications, Springer Healthcare, for medical writing assistance; funding for this was provided by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals.
Disclosure
Johannes Bitzer has participated in advisory boards for Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD), Lilly, Solvay Pharma, and Boehringer Ingelheim, and has lectured at meetings supported by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, MSD, Lilly, Solvay Pharma, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr von Stenglin and Dr Bannemerschult are employees of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals.