Knowledge of folic acid and its health effect among female university students

Objective To understand the knowledge status of folic acid among female university students and to explore its influencing factors for folic acid intervention among childbearing women.Methods With stratified cluster sampling method,the female university students in Ji'nan were chosen and investigated with questionnaire survey.Results A total of 523 students from three universities were investigated.The knowledge rate of folic acid among the students was 50.9%.25.8% of the subjects knew about the preventive effect of folic acid against neural tube defects (NTDs).There were significant differences in the knowledge rate for preventive effect of folic acid against NTDs between medical and the other subject students (χ²=59.298,P<0.001;OR=15.556,95% CI= 7.736-31.281),between graduates and undergraduates (χ²=11.490,P=0.001;OR=2.576,95% CI=1.491-4.453).Health education could improve the knowledge rate of folic acid (χ²=4.732,P<0.05;OR=0.544,95% CI=0.314-0.941).Conclusion The knowledge rate of folic acid among female university students in Ji'nan was low.Propaganda and education to childbearing women should be strengthened.