ISSN: 2474-9214
Authors: Adefolarin A Amu, Nolwazi M Ndzimande, Nolwazi N Tfwala and Julius O. Soyinka*
Background: Inappropriate drug use during pregnancy brings possible teratogenicity to the foetus, however chronic illnesses, like diabetes, and pregnancy induced sicknesses, like nausea and vomiting, with consideration of the risk benefit ratio has necessitated the increased use of medication during pregnancy, leading to adverse reproductive outcomes. There is increased statistics of maternal mortality, neonatal deaths, infant mortality, induced labour, miscarriages, premature labour/stillbirth, and other pregnancy complications in Swaziland, hence, the study. Objective: To assess drug prescribing and usage pattern among pregnant women who attended antenatal care at a selected General Hospital between January and December 2016. Method: A quantitative retrospective non-experimental survey design was used. The study was carried out at a selected General Hospital in the Manzini region of Swaziland. The population were pregnant women that attended antenatal care. Data was collected by reviewing pregnant patients’ files from January 2016 to December 2016. Simple random sampling was used and the data was analysed using SPSS system version 20.0, and the US FDA risk category system was a reference standard. Results: Out of the sample of 314 pregnant patient files reviewed it was observed that most patients were aged 21-30 202 (64.3%), a majority of the patients were at their third trimester 170 (54.1%), common diagnosis/complications being lower abdominal pain 105 (33.4%) and urinary tract infection 101 (32.2%). Nutritional supplements 682 (64.9%), antimicrobials 188 (17.9%) and analgesics 127 (12.1%) were the most prescribed and used drugs. The most prescribed and used medication fell under category A 686 (64.9%) followed by category B 287 (27.3%), category C 64 (6.1%), category D 17 (1.6%), and category X 1 (0.1%).
Keywords: Drug usage; Pregnancy; Prescribing pattern; Retrospective analysis
