Adults' knowledge level of iron deficiency anemia and their attitudes towards iron supplementation, a quantitative study

Although the prevalence of IDA is high, the fact that individuals do not use iron supplements due to reasons such as appetite and weight gain is impressive in treatment. The aim of this descriptive study is to determine the knowledge levels of adults about IDA and their attitudes towards iron supplements. The questionnaire used as a data collection tool consists of three parts. There are sociodemographic questions in the first part, knowledge level about IDA questions in the second part, and attitude questions towards iron supplements in the third part. Women have more knowledge than men and health personnel have more knowledge than other occupational groups; It was found that age and knowledge level were positively related. It was determined that 41.1% of whom were diagnosed with IDA in total, 38% of the participants used very little and 39.7% never used iron supplement. 21.9% of the people stated that they could never lose weight with iron supplementation, 34% said that these supplements caused a little appetite and 9.4% thought that they caused a lot of appetite. It is known that iron supplements do not prevent weight loss in individuals and the lost appetite returns to normal with iron intake. As a result, it is necessary to increase the knowledge level of adults about anemia and useing supplements regularly. Key words: Anemia, appetite, iron deficiency anemia, iron supplement, loss weight, obesity.