Factors associated with medication prescription in pregnant women from ESE Carmen Emilia Ospina: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Indiscriminate use of medicines in pregnant women calls for a strict surveillance due to the numerous risks such as fetal malformations and an increase in maternal and fetal morbimortality. The fundamental problem lies in the lack of controlled clinical studies about this type of population due to ethical reasons. An observational descriptive cross-sectional period study was conducted, based on the pregnant women who attended the maternity unit of ESE Carmen Emilia Ospina, from September 1, 2011 until February 29, 2012. A sample of 365 patients was obtained whose average age was 22; the use of medicines was by 60 %, being self-medication responsible for 16,7 %, the pharmacological category B had a higher frequency by 82,8 %. The prenatal proper control, which refers to the exertion of this, according to gestational age, was exercised only by 63,2 % of total patients; 78,5 % of pregnant women was in secondary education. Acetaminophen was the main medicine taken by 30%, followed by hyoscine by 18%, metoclopramide by 7% and cephalexin by 5%. Other medicines such as metronidazole, hyoscine plus dipyrone, cephradine ranitidine, dipyrone were used to a lesser extent. The reasons for prescription were pelvic pain and headache by 29% and 17%, respectively. A multivariate analysis of logistic regression was carried out which showed that the second half of the gestation term is a protective factor for medicine taking during gestation. Other identified variables such as low cultural level, urban origin and the presence of prenatal controls did not show statistically significant information. As a conclusion, medicine taking by pregnant women is a serious health problem that is fully identified in our region and needs strategic detailed plans for its prevention.