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Iron supplementation in pregnancy. General practitioners' compliance with official recommendations
1Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Norway.
Unlabelled:
OBJECTIVE--To compare general practitioners' routines regarding iron supplementation in pregnancy with national recommendations.
Design:
Mailed questionnaire to general practitioners.
Setting:
A county in western Norway.
Subjects:
184 general practitioners.
Main Outcome Measures:
Descriptive registration of reported routines regarding assessment and supplementation of iron.
Results:
11% of general practitioners reported complete adherence to the national programme recommending iron supplements for everyone in the second half of pregnancy and use of s-ferritin estimation if Hb falls below 11 g/dl. 36% of the doctors prescribed iron supplements routinely irrespective of iron status. 87% reported use of s-ferritin estimation in antenatal care; usually on indication of low Hb, almost 20% as a routine screening in all pregnancies.
Conclusion:
General practitioners' compliance with national recommendations for iron supplementation in pregnancy is very low and probably reveals a need both for a review of the national recommendations and for an approach to increase compliance with given standards.