Practice, Risk Perception, and Correlates of SelfMedication Among Pregnant Women in Awka

Background: Despite global discouragement of the practice of self-medication in pregnancy, available data showed that the practice still thrives in many parts of the world, especially the developing nations. Despite the major associated risk of potential harm to the mother and her fetus, self-mediation is believed to be a major driving force behind the increasing burden of anti-microbial resistance. In some parts of Nigeria like Awka city, self-medication in pregnancy is not well-understood due to lack of a comprehensive review study, hence the motivation behind this research. Objective: This study aimed at assessing the practice, risk perception and correlates of self-medication among the pregnant women residing at Awka, Anambra State of Nigeria. The outcome of this research is hoped to offer a springboard for improving the reproductive health of women in the area. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted across the Awka city using the following locations: one hospital’s antenatal clinic, a town hall and a church hall for data collection. The data was collected when pregnant women gathered on the selected days at these locations. On each site, data was collected with a set of pretested, interviewer-administered, structured questionnaire. Following the returning of the questionnaires, data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 20 statistical package, as well as Excel package. Results: The practice of self-medication during pregnancy was very high, with more than half of the women (69.7%) admitted to having self-medicated during pregnancy. More than half of them (61.9%) perceived selfmedication in pregnancy as a good practice with little or no associated risks. A significant percentage (31.5%) of them reasoned that self-medication in pregnancy could be risky only to women who become pregnant for the first time (primigravida). Similarly, more than half of the participants opined that herbal remedies are very safe in pregnancy and hardly cause harm to the fetus or the mother. Over seventy percent (70.7%) admitted that self-medication in pregnancy saves time and money, and should be promoted. Among the participants that admitted practicing self-medication in pregnancy, the medications reported to be commonly used include antibiotics (30.7%), antimalarials (83.6%), herbal remedies (21.8%), anti-emetics (61.1%), antipyretics and analgesics (90.2%), vitamins & minerals (95.5%), cold & allergy remedies (56.0%). The major correlates for the practice of self-medication in pregnancy in this study were pregnancy number [P=0.018], educational qualification (P=0.009), and occupation [P=0.007] of the respondents. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Conclusion: Self-medication practice among pregnant women in Awka is substantially high, with a low level of risk perception. Because of the high Risk-Benefit ratio associated with self-medication in pregnancy, measures need to be implemented for a paradigm shift from self-medication to professional pharmacotherapy by the pregnant women. This will pave way for achieving a sustainable development goal on maternal-child health in Awka city in particular and Nigeria at large.