Table 2 Prevalence of folic acid supplement users according to maternal characteristics and time periods of usea
From: Prevalence and determinants of preconception folic acid use: an Italian multicenter survey
Characteristic | No. of women | Folic acid supplement users, %b | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
At least one month before pregnancy (n = 256) | At least six months before pregnancy (n = 259) | Soon after pregnancy confirmation (n = 1,201) | After the first trimester (n = 122) | |||
Maternal age (years) | ||||||
<25 | 130 | 5.4 | 0 | 63.1 | 7.7 | |
25–29 | 404 | 11.4 | 7.4 | 58.7 | 4.7 | |
30–34 | 724 | 13.5 | 10.9 | 54.4 | 6.2 | |
35–39 | 660 | 12.3 | 15.8 | 51.1 | 5.2 | |
40 or more | 209 | 10.5 | 19.1 | 53.1 | 4.8 | |
Parity | ||||||
0 | 1,246 | 12.4 | 14.4 | 52.8 | 4.5 | |
1 | 730 | 11.6 | 8.6 | 58.8 | 6.4 | |
2 | 171 | 8.2 | 8.8 | 55.0 | 9.4 | |
3 or more | 42 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 47.6 | 7.1 | |
Educational level | ||||||
Primary school | 331 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 53.5 | 8.2 | |
Secondary school | 960 | 11.3 | 10.2 | 56.3 | 6.9 | |
University | 890 | 15.1 | 16.1 | 54.2 | 3.3 | |
Marital status | ||||||
No partner | 213 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 62.9 | 7.5 | |
Married/cohabiting | 1,957 | 12.3 | 12.5 | 54.2 | 5.4 | |
Citizenship | ||||||
Non-Italian | 319 | 8.2 | 6.0 | 53.0 | 10.0 | |
Italian | 1,867 | 12.3 | 12.9 | 55.2 | 4.8 | |
Working activity | ||||||
Studying | 106 | 10.4 | 7.5 | 61.3 | 5.7 | |
Working | 1,683 | 12.4 | 12.7 | 55.0 | 5.4 | |
Working at home | 283 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 53.7 | 6.0 | |
Not working | 94 | 10.6 | 13.8 | 50.0 | 7.4 | |
Pregnancy intention | ||||||
Unintended | 121 | 4.1 | 2.5 | 57.0 | 9.1 | |
Mistimed | 646 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 62.4 | 7.3 | |
Intended | 1,392 | 15.8 | 16.4 | 51.1 | 4.4 | |
Preconception health visit | ||||||
No | 1,266 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 63.6 | 6.8 | |
Yes | 907 | 21.2 | 21.6 | 42.9 | 3.9 | |
Infertility treatment | ||||||
No | 2,001 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 57.0 | 5.5 | |
Ovulation inductor use, no ART | 31 | 6.5 | 41.9 | 32.3 | 12.9 | |
ART | 128 | 22.7 | 35.2 | 30.5 | 2.3 | |
Maternal smoking before pregnancy | ||||||
No | 1,614 | 12.5 | 13.1 | 53.5 | 5.4 | |
Yes | 575 | 9.4 | 8.3 | 58.6 | 6.1 | |
BMI before pregnancy | ||||||
Underweight | 180 | 11.1 | 12.2 | 53.9 | 6.1 | |
Normal weight | 1,573 | 12.4 | 12.3 | 54.2 | 5.6 | |
Pre-obese | 303 | 11.2 | 9.9 | 59.4 | 4.3 | |
Obese | 122 | 5.7 | 9.8 | 54.9 | 6.6 | |
Chronic disease | ||||||
No | 1,959 | 11.2 | 11.0 | 55.4 | 5.8 | |
Yes | 208 | 14.4 | 19.7 | 50.0 | 3.8 | |