Self-medication practice among pregnant women in Brazzaville

Abstract

Self-medication, described1,2 as the fact of taking medicines by oneself, based on the symptoms, without prescription medical consultation, constitutes a public health major issue. Selfmedication is associated with the risk of inappropriate drug use, which predisposes patients to drug interactions, masking symptoms of an underlying disease, and development of antibiotics microbial resistance. Self-medication practice is common worldwide.3–8 Factors influencing frequency of self-medication are age, educational level, family attitudes, advertising of drug manufacturers, legislation regulating dispensing and sale of drugs, previous experiences with the symptoms or disease, significance attributed to the disease2–9 homekept prescription drugs10 and economic situation of respondents.1,2 Depression and anxiety may also be connected with self-medication.11 Self-medication is a topic of major interest in Sub-Saharan Africa where drugs purchased and used without the prescription of a physician are common. Self-medication in pregnant women is of particular interest due to teratogenic and fetotoxic effects.12–14 Self-medication among pregnant women is widely documented in sub-Saharan Africa. Available data show that self-medication is common among pregnant women.5–18 For example, in a study conducted among 145 pregnant women followed by prenatal consultations in Democratic Republic of Congo, 75% reported use of non steriodic anti-inflammatory in selfmedication and mainly during the last two trimesters of pregnancy to treat pain from various causes.15 In another study conducted in Ethiopia, 510 pregnant women were included and 25.1% reported self-medication. In this study, Self medication during pregnancy was significantly associated with gravid, maternal illness on the date of interview and location of health facility.16 Self-medication practice was also assessed among 617 among pregnant women in Ethiopia and prevalence was 26.6%; previous pregnancy and delivery related problems were found associated with self-medication practice,17 In a study conducted in Nigeria, of the 518 pregnant women assessed, prevalence of self-medication was 72,4%, 41.9% for fever/pain relievers.6 Recently, self-medication was assessed in Tanzania among 372 pregnant women with a prevalence of 6.24%. In this study, pregnant women with no formal education, incomplete primary education, primary education and secondary education were most likely to practice self-medication than pregnant women with college or university education.18