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Prevalence and Nature of Self-Medication of Drugs Among Pregnant Women in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh

Received: 29 August 2016     Accepted: 1 October 2016     Published: 16 November 2016
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Abstract

The phenomenon of self-medication is a significant problem in a developing country due to easy availability of drugs. It is important in pregnancy as these agents may be teratogenic; pregnant women may be exposed to drugs that have serious harmful effects on their fetus. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence and nature of self-medication in pregnant women in Rajshahi city, Bangladesh. The study was carried out using a self-designed standard structured questionnaire following WHO guidelines from January 2015 to April 2015. In this study, 650 pregnant women were considered as randomly selected sample from women attending for maternity care from one public hospital and five private clinics in Rajshahi City. 79 (12.2%) women use self-medication. The conditions which prompted women to obtain self-medication of drugs were gastric acidity (32.9%), infection (24.1%), cold & fever (21.5%), pain (12.7%), vomiting (8.9%) and disorders related to pregnancy (7.6%). The drugs most commonly used were antacids (27.8%) followed by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (26.6%), iron (15.2%), vitamins and minerals (12.7%), ayurvedic preparations (5.1%), antiemetic (5.1%) and antibiotics (3.8%) respectively. Most common reasons of self-medication were availability of drugs (42%), prior experience (20.8%), emergency usage (11.2%), knowledge about drugs (10.0%) and advice from traditional healers (8.0%). Moreover, 44.3% of women did not complete the course of antibiotics. Due to the adverse effects of self-medication, particularly during pregnancy, which can lead to teratogenicity or fetotoxicity, it is necessary to take some measures to preventing self-medication in pregnant women.

Published in European Journal of Preventive Medicine (Volume 4, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11
Page(s) 125-131
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Self-Medication, Pregnant Women, Prevalence, Reasons, Abnormal Birth, Rajshahi City, Bangladesh

References
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  • APA Style

    Md. Uzzal Haque, Most. Sumonara Khatun, Nuzhat Tasnim Amin, Tania Afrin, Anjira Ohomina Jannat, et al. (2016). Prevalence and Nature of Self-Medication of Drugs Among Pregnant Women in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh. European Journal of Preventive Medicine, 4(6), 125-131. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11

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    ACS Style

    Md. Uzzal Haque; Most. Sumonara Khatun; Nuzhat Tasnim Amin; Tania Afrin; Anjira Ohomina Jannat, et al. Prevalence and Nature of Self-Medication of Drugs Among Pregnant Women in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh. Eur. J. Prev. Med. 2016, 4(6), 125-131. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11

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    AMA Style

    Md. Uzzal Haque, Most. Sumonara Khatun, Nuzhat Tasnim Amin, Tania Afrin, Anjira Ohomina Jannat, et al. Prevalence and Nature of Self-Medication of Drugs Among Pregnant Women in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh. Eur J Prev Med. 2016;4(6):125-131. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11,
      author = {Md. Uzzal Haque and Most. Sumonara Khatun and Nuzhat Tasnim Amin and Tania Afrin and Anjira Ohomina Jannat and Samaun Rashid and Khadiza Sultana and Nuruna Lovely Nishuti and Trisha Sarker and Sadiur Rahman Sajon},
      title = {Prevalence and Nature of Self-Medication of Drugs Among Pregnant Women in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh},
      journal = {European Journal of Preventive Medicine},
      volume = {4},
      number = {6},
      pages = {125-131},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ejpm.20160406.11},
      abstract = {The phenomenon of self-medication is a significant problem in a developing country due to easy availability of drugs. It is important in pregnancy as these agents may be teratogenic; pregnant women may be exposed to drugs that have serious harmful effects on their fetus. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence and nature of self-medication in pregnant women in Rajshahi city, Bangladesh. The study was carried out using a self-designed standard structured questionnaire following WHO guidelines from January 2015 to April 2015. In this study, 650 pregnant women were considered as randomly selected sample from women attending for maternity care from one public hospital and five private clinics in Rajshahi City. 79 (12.2%) women use self-medication. The conditions which prompted women to obtain self-medication of drugs were gastric acidity (32.9%), infection (24.1%), cold & fever (21.5%), pain (12.7%), vomiting (8.9%) and disorders related to pregnancy (7.6%). The drugs most commonly used were antacids (27.8%) followed by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (26.6%), iron (15.2%), vitamins and minerals (12.7%), ayurvedic preparations (5.1%), antiemetic (5.1%) and antibiotics (3.8%) respectively. Most common reasons of self-medication were availability of drugs (42%), prior experience (20.8%), emergency usage (11.2%), knowledge about drugs (10.0%) and advice from traditional healers (8.0%). Moreover, 44.3% of women did not complete the course of antibiotics. Due to the adverse effects of self-medication, particularly during pregnancy, which can lead to teratogenicity or fetotoxicity, it is necessary to take some measures to preventing self-medication in pregnant women.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Prevalence and Nature of Self-Medication of Drugs Among Pregnant Women in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh
    AU  - Md. Uzzal Haque
    AU  - Most. Sumonara Khatun
    AU  - Nuzhat Tasnim Amin
    AU  - Tania Afrin
    AU  - Anjira Ohomina Jannat
    AU  - Samaun Rashid
    AU  - Khadiza Sultana
    AU  - Nuruna Lovely Nishuti
    AU  - Trisha Sarker
    AU  - Sadiur Rahman Sajon
    Y1  - 2016/11/16
    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11
    T2  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    JF  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    JO  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    SP  - 125
    EP  - 131
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8230
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20160406.11
    AB  - The phenomenon of self-medication is a significant problem in a developing country due to easy availability of drugs. It is important in pregnancy as these agents may be teratogenic; pregnant women may be exposed to drugs that have serious harmful effects on their fetus. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence and nature of self-medication in pregnant women in Rajshahi city, Bangladesh. The study was carried out using a self-designed standard structured questionnaire following WHO guidelines from January 2015 to April 2015. In this study, 650 pregnant women were considered as randomly selected sample from women attending for maternity care from one public hospital and five private clinics in Rajshahi City. 79 (12.2%) women use self-medication. The conditions which prompted women to obtain self-medication of drugs were gastric acidity (32.9%), infection (24.1%), cold & fever (21.5%), pain (12.7%), vomiting (8.9%) and disorders related to pregnancy (7.6%). The drugs most commonly used were antacids (27.8%) followed by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (26.6%), iron (15.2%), vitamins and minerals (12.7%), ayurvedic preparations (5.1%), antiemetic (5.1%) and antibiotics (3.8%) respectively. Most common reasons of self-medication were availability of drugs (42%), prior experience (20.8%), emergency usage (11.2%), knowledge about drugs (10.0%) and advice from traditional healers (8.0%). Moreover, 44.3% of women did not complete the course of antibiotics. Due to the adverse effects of self-medication, particularly during pregnancy, which can lead to teratogenicity or fetotoxicity, it is necessary to take some measures to preventing self-medication in pregnant women.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Jessore, Bangladesh

  • Department of Pediatrics, Khwaja Yunus Ali Medical College & Hospital, Sirajgonj, Bangladesh

  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, Varendra University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, Varendra University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, Varendra University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, Varendra University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, Varendra University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, Varendra University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, Varendra University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Jessore, Bangladesh

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