Setting research priorities on multiple micronutrient supplementation in pregnancy
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Date
2019-11-06
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Abstract
Prenatal micronutrient deficiencies are associated with negative maternal and birth outcomes. Multiple micronutrient
supplementation (MMS) during pregnancy is a cost-effective intervention to reduce these adverse outcomes.
However, important knowledge gaps remain in the implementation of MMS interventions. The Child Health and
Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methodology was applied to inform the direction of research and investments
needed to support the implementation of MMS interventions for pregnant women in low- and middleincome
countries (LMIC). Following CHNRImethodology guidelines, a group of international experts in nutrition
andmaternal health provided and ranked the research questions thatmost urgently need to be resolved for prenatal
MMS interventions to be successfully implemented. Seventy-three research questions were received, analyzed,
and reorganized, resulting in 35 consolidated research questions. These were scored against four criteria, yielding a
priority ranking where the top 10 research options focused on strategies to increase antenatal care attendance and
MMSadherence, methods needed to identify populationsmore likely to benefit fromMMS interventions and some
discovery issues (e.g., potential benefit of extending MMS through lactation). This exercise prioritized 35 discrete
research questions that merit serious consideration for the potential of MMS during pregnancy to be optimized in
LMIC.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
pregnancy, micronutrients, supplementation, research priorities, low- and middle-income countries