Level of knowledge about folic acid in students of the Nursing Degree of a Public University in Querétaro, Mexico

• Autores: Guerrero Ramírez, Brisa Milagros, López Hurtado, Balkis de Guadalupe, Peza Cruz, Gabriela, Olvera Vega, María Silvia, Méndez Ávila, Julio César
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2023
• Institución: Universidad Católica Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo
• Repositorio: Revistas - Universidad Católica Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:revistasusat:article/946
• Enlace del recurso: https://revistas.usat.edu.pe/index.php/cietna/article/view/946
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: Folic acid; folates; folic acid supplementation; knowledge; Nursing; Ácido fólico; folatos; suplementación con ácido fólico; conocimiento; enfermería.

Introduction: World Health Organization (WHO) and other government organizations in different countries, recommend folic acid supplementation for every childbearing age woman to avoid Neural Tube Defects. If every childbearing age woman would take 0.4mg of folic acid daily, then up to 75% of the total Neural Tube Defects (NTD), would be prevented. Objetive: evaluate nursing students’ level of knowledge of folic acid. Methods: a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with nursing students from a public university in Querétaro, Mexico. A closed-form sample size formula was used with a stratified cross-sectional sample and a random sample. Students were asked to answer a questionnaire designed by Saxena et. al, which was not validated. For the statistical analyses, the IBM SPSS Statistics 23 program was used. Main Results: out of a sample of 93 students, 97.8% knew the folic acid, 89.2% knew that folic acid deficiency results in Neural Tube Defects, and 63.4% pointed out that folic acid should be supplemented during the periconceptional period; however, only 17.2% acknowledged that there is a particular population who should be taken it, this figure is similar to the results on the question about the correct intake dose. Generally, students’ knowledge turned out to be low. Overall Conclusion: Since Neural Tube Defects and megaloblastic anemia still prevail nowadays, increasing training in this matter is suggested.