Correlation between folic acid and hemoglobin in pregnant women: cross-sectional study from 2017 to 2019.

OBJECTIVES

to correlate folic acid levels with hemoglobin levels in pregnant women.

METHODS

a cross-sectional study conducted between 2017 and 2019 with 950 pregnant women based on the cohort database "Nutrition and Infection: The Problem Revisited Due to the Microcephaly Outbreak". Data were analyzed using Stata 12.1. Spearman's correlation and Pearson's chi-square tests were applied, with a significance level of 5%.

RESULTS

folic acid and hemoglobin levels were adequate (>5.38 ng/ml) in 90.9% of participants. Hemoglobin concentration was adequate (≥ 11 g/dL) in 80.8% of pregnant women. Pregnant women with hemoglobin ≤ 11 g/dL had 13.2% of inadequate folic acid, while in the group with hemoglobin ≥ 11 g/dL, 8.1% had inadequate folic acid (p=0.031).

CONCLUSIONS

an association was observed between hemoglobin and folic acid levels in the pregnant women assessed, reinforcing the importance of nutritional monitoring during prenatal care.