Drug utilization pattern during pregnancy in North India

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy is a special physiological condition, where drug treatment presents a special concern. AIMS: To evaluate the drug utilization pattern during pregnancy and to evaluate the effect of the educational and economic status on it.. DESIGN: The retrospective cross-sectional study. SETTING: The postgraduate Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics of a medical college. and the antenatal clinic of the institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical students filled 405 questionnaires after interviewing pregnant women (243 primigravida and 152 multigravida). All the collected questionnaires were analysed for various study parameters. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Inter-group comparison was done using chi-square test. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 700, 1086 and 686 drugs, with an average of 1.73, 2.89 and 2.49 drugs per pregnant women, were used during first, second and third trimester of pregnancy, respectively. A majority of the drugs used, were from category-A, followed by category-B and category-D. However, category C and X drugs constituted 2.90 (20) and 5.71% (40) of drugs used during the third trimester and first trimester, respectively. Herbal/ homeopathic drugs constituted 6.42 (45), 3.68 (40) and 1.46% (10) of the drugs used in the first, second and third trimester of pregnancy, respectively (P=649). 33.33% (135) women believed that drug use during pregnancy is dangerous to both mother and child and 37.03% (150) believed that drugs are dangerous throughout pregnancy. 55.55% (225) females advocated the use of iron/folic acid during pregnancy. 24.69% (100) of women had knowledge about barrier contraceptives. Self-medication and homeopathic/ herbal drugs use was found more in graduates than in undergraduates; as well as, it was more in the higher socioeconomic group than the lower socioeconomic group. CONCLUSION: There is a need to educate and counsel women of child-bearing age, regarding the advantages and disadvantages of drug use during pregnancies, with special reference to alternative therapies and self-medication.

Drug Utilization Pattern and Potential Teratogenicity Risk among Pregnant Women Visiting Antenatal Clinic: The Case of a Primary Hospital

“…Various researchers reported comparatively less finding than the present study. 15,16,21 On other hand it was reported that large numbers of category D drugs were prescribed in another studies. 17,22 In this study from category D drugs, doxycycline was the most frequently prescribed drug followed by tetracycline eye ointment, diazepam, gentamycin, and phenytoin.…”

“…[11][12][13] Inappropriate use of medications by pregnant women has been widely reported in different countries. [14][15][16] In Fitche Hospital there was no such study before for the safety and effectiveness of drug use during pregnancy. Hence, this study was carried out to evaluate the pattern of drug use and potential teratogenicity risk to fetus in women attending the antenatal clinic.…”

Fatores associados ao uso de medicamentos na gestação em primigestas no Município de Rio Branco, Acre, Brasil

“…Quando adotada a categorização de risco para uso dos medicamentos durante a gestação proposta pelo FDA, a análise apontou para um padrão de utilização semelhante ao observado em outros estudos nacionais 1,9,10 em que aparece a categoria de risco A (menor risco), seguida da B, C e D. Em contrapartida, este estudo não encontrou evidências de utilização de medicamento classificado na categoria X (totalmente contraindicado), resultado observado por Hardy et al 32 nos Estados Unidos (7%) e por Sharma et al 2 no Norte da Índia (5,71%).…”

“…Por outro lado, a gestação é acompanhada muitas vezes de intercorrências, necessitando de intervenções medicamentosas 2 .…”

Medications Used by Pregnant Women: Any Safety Concerns?

“…Despite the lack of safety data, studies in the US reported an average of 2.6 medications, whilst in North India, 1.7 medications were used during the first trimester of pregnancy, which is the period with high risk of teratogenicity [7][8]. In Malaysia, studies found that 51.4% of pregnant women used at least one type of herbal medication throughout their pregnancy and 73% used such medications during labour, with the hope to shorten and ease their delivery process [9][10].…”