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Antenatal iron‐folic acid supplementation reduces mortality in children less than 5 years of age in Nepal (624.18)
Author(s) -
Nisar Yasir,
Dibley Michael,
Mebrahtu Saba,
Paudyal Naveen,
Devkota Madhu,
Maharjan Macha
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.624.18
Subject(s) - medicine , pregnancy , confounding , folic acid , proportional hazards model , child survival , environmental health , pediatrics , neonatal mortality , demography , infant mortality , obstetrics , population , surgery , genetics , sociology , biology
Objective To examine the effect of antenatal IFA supplements on the risk of childhood mortality in Nepal using pooled data from 3 Nepal DHS (2001, 2006 & 2011). Methods Survival information was used from 13,009 singleton most recent live‐born infants. Primary outcomes were mortality indicators in children <5 years and the main exposure variable was any use of IFA supplements. Analyses used multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted for X potential confounders and the sampling design. Results Any use of IFA supplements significantly reduced risk of neonatal deaths by 42%, and by 45% for early neonatal deaths (aHR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.38, 0.79, p=0.002). These protective effects of any IFA extended to 4 years of age. For mothers who started <4 months of pregnancy and used 蠅120 supplements under‐5 mortality was significantly reduced by 55%. 15% of under‐5 deaths were attributed to non‐use of IFA, and 29,000 under‐5 deaths could be prevented in the next 5 years with universal coverage of IFA. Conclusion IFA significantly reduces the risk of under‐5 deaths in Nepal, with the greatest impact on child survival in women who started early in pregnancy and took 蠅120 supplements. Grant Funding Source : Supported by UNICEF Nepal