Prevalence and Reasons of Self-Medication in Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Mohammad Mohseni, Saber Azami-Aghdash, Sepideh Gareh Sheyklo and 4 others
PMID 30465000WHAT IT FOUND
32% of pregnant women self-medicated across 13 studies of 6202 participants.
Herbal medicines, nutritional agents and pain and fever medicines were common. Previous experience, poor access and high visit costs were leading reasons.
Key findings
01The overall prevalence of self-medication was 32%.
02Herbal medicines (48%) and nutritional agents (27.1%) were the most commonly self-medicated drug groups.
03The most important determinant factors were previous experience of disease, lack of access to physicians, and high costs of visit.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The included studies varied widely, from 2.2 in Iran to 72.4 in Nigeria, so the single 32% average may not apply to local patients. Heterogeneity was high, and the sensitivity analysis changed the pooled prevalence from 32% to 43%. The authors found possible publication bias among the included studies. Only English and Persian articles were included, and some databases were unavailable, so relevant studies may have been missed. The review could not categorize articles by criteria because of the number of studies. Intervention studies were excluded, so this review does not test whether any intervention reduces self-medication.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 32% estimate as a precise global rate. The studies varied from 2.2 in Iran to 72.4 in Nigeria, heterogeneity was high, and the authors found possible publication bias.