Drug-prescribing patterns during pregnancy in the tertiary care hospitals of Pakistan: a cross sectional study
| Autor: | Zahida Memon, Abdul M Shaikh, Syed I. Azam, Dileep Kumar Rohra, Nusrat H Khan, Nirmal Das, Nazir A Solangi |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2008 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
medicine.medical_specialty Cross-sectional study Population Prenatal care Drug Prescriptions lcsh:Gynecology and obstetrics Women in development Drug Utilization Review Pregnancy Obstetrics and Gynaecology medicine Humans Pakistan Practice Patterns Physicians' Medical prescription Hospitals Teaching education Misoprostol lcsh:RG1-991 education.field_of_study business.industry Obstetrics and Gynecology Prenatal Care medicine.disease Cross-Sectional Studies Family medicine Female Pregnancy Trimesters business Research Article medicine.drug |
| Zdroj: | BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, Vol 8, Iss 1, p 24 (2008) BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth |
| ISSN: | 1471-2393 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/1471-2393-8-24 |
| Popis: | Background The rationale for use of drugs during pregnancy requires a careful assessment as in addition to the mother, the health and life of her unborn child is also at stake. Information on the use of drugs during pregnancy is not available in Pakistan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the patterns of drug prescriptions to pregnant women in tertiary care hospitals of Pakistan. Methods This was a cross-sectional study conducted at five tertiary care hospitals of Pakistan. Copies of outpatient medicinal prescriptions given to pregnant patients attending the antenatal clinics were collected. The drugs were classified according to the pharmacological class and their teratogenic potential. Results All the pregnant women attending the antenatal clinics received a prescription containing at least one drug. A total of 3769 distinct prescriptions given to different women were collected. Majority of the women who received the prescriptions belonged to third trimester (55.4%) followed by second (33.6%) and first trimester (11.0%). On an average, each prescription contained 1.66 ± 0.14 drugs. The obstetricians at Civil Hospital, Karachi and Chandka Medical College Hospital, Larkana showed a tendency of prescribing lesser number of drugs compared to those in other hospitals. Anti-anemic drugs including iron preparations and vitamin and mineral supplements (79.4%) were the most frequently prescribed drugs followed by analgesics (6.2%) and anti-bacterials (2.2%). 739 women (19.6%) received prescriptions containing drugs other than vitamin or mineral supplements. Only 1275 (21.6%) of all the prescribed drugs (n = 6100) were outside this vitamin/mineral supplement class. Out of these 1275 drugs, 29 (2.3%) drugs were prescribed which are considered to be teratogenic. Misoprostol was the most frequently prescribed (n = 6) among the teratogenic drugs followed by carbimazole (n = 5) and methotrexate (n = 5). Twenty nine pregnant women (0.8% of all the women studied) were prescribed these teratogenic drugs. Conclusion Less than one percent of the pregnant women attending tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan are prescribed teratogenic drugs. The prescribing practices of Pakistani physicians are similar to those in western countries. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|