Table 1.
Maternal characteristics and supplementation profile.
| General characteristics | Proportions/values | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All (n = 277) | ∞MRSE (n = 138) | ∞MNRSE (n = 139) | p value∗ | |
| Mean age in years ± SD | 28.2 ± 5.2 | 27.9 ± 5.1 | 28.5 ± 5.2 | 0.26 |
| Mean number of children ± SD | 1.7 ± 0.5 | 1.6 ± 0.5 | 1.8 ± 0.4 | 0.02 |
| Proportion primigravida (% (n)) | 31.8 (88) | 40.6 (56) | 23.0 (32) | 0.002 |
| Proportion married (% (n)) | 79.5 (220) | 78.3 (108) | 80.7 (109) | 0.61 |
| Proportion Christians (% (n)) | 98.2 (272) | 99.1 (105) | 97.3 (108) | 0.33 |
| Proportion with secondary education and above (% (n)) | 44.9 (124) | 46.0 (63) | 43.8 (60) | 0.71 |
| Proportion in salaried employment (% (n)) | 9.0 (25) | 9.6 (13) | 9.2 (12) | 0.30 |
| Proportion belonging to mother support group (% (n)) | 13.7 (38) | 13.8 (19) | 13.7 (19) | 0.98 |
| Proportion of mothers who attended antennal clinic for the first time in the first trimester (% (n))¥ | 47.3 (131) | 51.4 (71) | 43.2 (60) | 0.17 |
| Mean days of supplementation ± SD | 48.1 ± 35.7 | 43.3 ± 30.7 | 52.9 ± 40.0 | 0.04 |
| Mean days of supplementation by the postpartum period of recall ± SDα | ||||
| 0-11 mo | 48.0 ± 38.0 | 43.7 ± 31.7 | 51.3 ± 42.6 | 0.09 |
| 12-23 mo | 57.7 ± 30.2 | 59.4 ± 30.4 | 55.5 ± 30.7 | |
| 24-35 mo | 53.0 ± 41.5 | 50.7 ± 33.0 | 55.8 ± 50.5 | |
| 36-47 mo | 40.3 ± 28.1 | 31.7 ± 25.8 | 46.4 ± 28.4 | |
| 48-60 mo | 44.0 ± 37.0 | 31.6 ± 24.0 | 58.9 ± 44.1 | |
| Mean number of side effects experienced ± SD | 1.2 ± 1.6 | 2.4 ± 1.5 | — | — |
| Proportion optimally supplemented (for 90+ days)—compliance (% (n)) | 23.1 (64) | 23.9 (33) | 22.3 (31) | 0.75 |
| Tablet (not syrup) form of iron-folate ingested (% (n)) | 94.9 (263) | 94.2 (130) | 95.7 (133) | 0.57 |
| Combined formulation (% (n))Ω | 44.8 (124) | 58.6 (74) | 36.0 (50) | 0.003 |
∞MRSE = mothers who reported at least a side effect; MNRSE = mothers who did not report a side effect. ∗ p value for statistical comparison of MRSE versus MNRSE. For continuous data with normal distribution, Student's t-test for independent samples was used. For continuous data with nonnormal distribution, Mann-Whitney U test for independent variables was used. For mean days of supplementation by the recall for different age groups, p values are based on Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) used. For all categorical variables, Phi and Cramer's V statistics (α = 0.05) was used. ¥Attendance of ANC in the first trimester is an indication of receiving the iron and folic acid supplements earlier, than later in pregnancy. αAs indicated by the age of their last-born child, and this reflects the time since the end of the last pregnancy in months. ΩIron and folic acid in the same tablet of syrup formulation. SD = standard deviation (α = 0.05); mo = months.