Assessment of knowledge and awareness among the pregnant women about their medication use in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy is a physiological state where drug therapy is of particular concern. The pertinent use of drugs during pregnancy is beneficial as it affects not only the health of the pregnant woman but also the developing fetus. The study was carried out to access the knowledge and awareness regarding the drug use among pregnant women.Methods: Cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among 150 pregnant women for six-month duration. All the information was acquired through direct interview with the subjects and from treatment chart of subjects which were then recorded in a data collection form.Results: Majority of the subjects were under the age group of 18-28 years (50%). Most of the subjects predominantly has tertiary level of education (69%). Furthermore, 57% of the subjects were at the third trimester of their pregnancy. Knowledge regarding use of their own medications were significantly high (95%), which suggest that the subjects were well aware of their medications. Besides, 82% of the subjects had knowledge about the medications that were not to be consumed during pregnancy. In addition, 89% of the pregnant women did not take any over the counter medications and about 92% of the subjects did not treat themselves with any ayurvedic or homeopathic medications.Conclusions: Significant number of subjects were aware about their medication use. They ensured themselves and their developing fetus a better health.