Program
Physician Assistant M.S.
Year Approved
2015
First Advisor
Holland , Ann
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of education to women of lower socioeconomic status about the importance of folic acid use before and during pregnancy. Previous research has shown the significance of folic acid in preventing neural tube defects; however, research has shown that women of lower socioeconomic status are not equipped with proper education regarding folic acid usage periconceptionally. An educational session was provided to three women’s shelters regarding folic acid, and questionnaires were used to gauge knowledge on folic acid before and after the sessions. The statistical analysis was consistent with our hypothesis in that the educational session was effective in communicating the data surrounding folic acid use periconceptionally. On average, participants were able to correctly answer 1.6 more questions on the posttest as compared to the pretest. Further research needs to be conducted surrounding this topic, encompassing the ideas around breaking access barriers to women of lower socioeconomic status and of childbearing age and determining the effectiveness of educational sessions provided regarding the use of folic acid periconceptionally.
Degree Name
Masters of Science in Physician Assistant
Document Type
Masterʼs thesis
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Bentley, M. I., Goetsch, A. R., & Perpich, C. L. (2015). The Effect of Education on Folic Acid in Women on Childbearing Age and Low Socioeconomic Status [Masterʼs thesis, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/65