Prevalence and associated factors of Self-medication in worldwide pregnant women: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis 

Abstract

Background: Self-medication during pregnancy is of great interest. The use of drugs during pregnancy requires a careful reflection on the benefits to the mother and the risks to the fetus. It is a difficult medical situation for clinicians to select the drug because of the various pharmacokinetic and physiological changes encountered in pregnant women this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of self-medication and associated factors in worldwide pregnant women by a systematic review and a meta-analysis of the published studies on self-medication during pregnancy. Methods: Searches were carried out at PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The quality of the studies and the risk of bias were analyzed using the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies instrument. The extracted data were tabulated and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively through meta-analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of self-medication among pregnant women was 44.50% (95% CI: 38.92-50.23). The subgroup analysis has shown a difference in the prevalence of self-medication which is influenced by region, Income of countries, and study design. The Heterogeneity, assessed by the statistical test I2 varied from 96% to 99% and was statistically significant. The result of this funnel plot showed that the funnel plot was symmetry with p-value = 0.36, and there is no publication bias. Conclusion: The results obtained from this study showed that the prevalence of self-medication among pregnant women is relatively high. This requires effective measures and interventions to reduce self-medication. Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.aa.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=312333 ID=CRD42022312333.