Pattern of drug use during the first trimester among Chinese women: data from a population-based cohort study

• Published in: European journal of clinical pharmacology Vol. 66; no. 5; pp. 511 - 518
• Main Authors: Zhu, Xiaoming, Qi, Xiuyu, Hao, Jiahu, Huang, Zhaohui, Zhang, Zhihua, Xing, Xiuya, Cheng, Daijuan, Xiao, Limin, Xu, Yuanyuan, Zhu, Peng, Tao, Fangbiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01.05.2010; Springer-Verlag; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Chinese medicine; Cohort Studies; Drug use; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Medicine, Chinese Traditional - utilization; Middle Aged; Pharmacoepidemiology and Prescription; Pharmacology; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Practice Patterns, Physicians' - statistics & numerical data; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Trimester, First; Prescription Drugs - therapeutic use; Questionnaires; Risk factors; China; Pregnancy; Pharmacoepidemiology; Chinese herbal drugs; Chinese traditional medicine; Drug use; Risk factors
• ISSN: 0031-6970; 1432-1041
• DOI: 10.1007/s00228-009-0781-x

Aim To describe the pattern of drug use among Chinese women during the first trimester and to examine the impact of maternal diseases on the choice of drugs. Method This drug utilisation study of pregnant women was performed using data from the ABCD cohort study. A total of 4,290 women were enrolled in the analysis. Information was collected by self-completion questionnaire combined with the “Maternal health handbook”. Results Of the 4,290 women interviewed, 75.9% of women took at least one drug during the first trimester. Users took a mean number of 1.43 drugs. The most frequently used drugs were folic acid (65.2%), vitamins (14.6%), calcium (12.0%), minerals (11.1%), Chinese traditional patent medicine (CTPM; 10.1%) and anti-infectives (6.5%). Among the women having used CTPM, influenza/cold and threatened abortion were the most commonly reported indications. Logistic regression analysis of drug use (excluding nutritional and haematological drugs) shows that CTPM and Western medicine are both associated with the use of drugs for occasional diseases and against threatened abortion. Maternal chronic diseases were not associated with the use of CTPM. Conclusion This analysis of pregnant women showed that drugs were prescribed to most women, even when nutritional and haematological drugs were excluded. Our data reflect, except for drugs used for chronic diseases, a general reluctance among Chinese women to use Western medicine and resorting to CTPM during pregnancy