WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

*Elaf Yousif Beram and Huda Ghazi Hameed

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption and skeletal growth, and deficiency of vitamin D can cause nutritional rickets. Although considered a historical disease after the advent of vitamin D fortification of foods, rickets persists worldwide, typically in un supplemented exclusively breastfed infants. The aim of study to assess maternal knowledge about vitamin D supplementation to their infants and the relation of maternal knowledge about vitamin D to sociodemographic factors for both mother and infant. Method: A descriptive analytic cross sectional study, conducted at five primary health care centers in Babylon city from first of February 2020 until first of February 2021. 383 mothers of infants under six months attending primary health care centers for routine vaccination and follow up of their infants were included in the study. Questionnaire-based study was used. A scoring system was designed for knowledge. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS version 26. Chi square test and multinomial logistic regression test were used to show the association between knowledge, mother and infant variables. Results: The results showed that (43.3%) and (31.9%) of participants had fair and good knowledge about vitamin D respectively. Only (42.8%) of infants received vitamin D supplements. The good knowledge was significantly associated with younger age mothers and mixed infant feeding (P value ? 0.05). While there was no association with occupation, residence, socioeconomic states, educational level of mothers. The main source of information about vitamin D was the health staff (44.13%). Conclusion: The study revealed that the overall knowledge about vitamin D is good.

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