| Summary: | Putri Nahrisah, 1, 2 Ratana Somrongthong, 1 Napaphan Viriyautsahakul, 1 Pramon Viwattanakulvanid, 1 Samlee Plianbangchang 1 1College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; 2Health Office of Kota Langsa Municipality, Kota Langsa, Province of Aceh, IndonesiaCorrespondence: Samlee PlianbangchangCollege of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Institute Building 2-3, Soi Chulalongkorn 62, Phyathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, ThailandTel +66 2218 8193Fax +66 2255 6046Email samleep40@gmail.comPurpose: To determine the effect of individual education through a pictorial handbook on anemia in conjunction with counseling on improving hemoglobin and hematocrit level, birth weight, knowledge, iron-rich food and iron-folic acid (IFA) intake.Patients and Methods: The study developed a pictorial handbook that was conceptualized based on the Health Belief Model and adjusted to some cultural and local contexts. A quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test control group design was used, purposefully conducted between two homogenous municipalities, each having a rate of anemic pregnancy that was 40% or greater. The sample consists of 140 anemic pregnant women randomly allocated via lottery into two groups; the intervention group (n=70), which received two home visits—one for education and another for a counseling session, and control group (n=70), which received routine antenatal care. A chi-square test and a Mann–Whitney U-test were conducted to compare the baseline socio-demographics. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), controlling some possible confounders, was performed to analyze the effect of intervention.Results: The post-test means of hemoglobin F (1, 132) = 122, p-value < 0.001, and hematocrit levels F (1, 132) = 373, p-value < 0.001, were significantly different and higher in the intervention group compared to the control group. Similar results were found in knowledge, food frequency score, number of IFA intake (with p-value < 0.001), birth weight and daily iron intake from food (with p-value < 0.05). The intervention had a particularly large effect on food frequency score and number of IFA intake, and medium effect on hemoglobin and hematocrit levels.Conclusion: Individual education through a pictorial handbook on anemia in conjunction with the counseling intervention program had a positive impact on hemoglobin and hematocrit levels for anemic pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy.Keywords: anemia pictorial handbook, health believe model, hemoglobin
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