Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward medication use among pregnant women attending Mansoura university hospital antenatal care clinics: an analytic cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Medication use during pregnancy is so prevalent worldwide. Self-medication may have drawbacks for maternal and fetal health. In Egypt, there are scarce studies assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of pregnant women regarding the use of non-prescribed medications during pregnancy. METHODS: An analytic cross-sectional study was implemented using a structured interview to assess the KAP of pregnant women attending the antenatal care clinics at Mansoura University Hospital toward medication use during pregnancy. RESULTS: Out of 387 respondents. 30.5% of pregnant females used self-medication. Most participants demonstrated inadequate levels of knowledge, with 43% of participants classified as having poor knowledge, 39% fair knowledge, and 18% having good knowledge. Regarding Attitude, 94.6% of participants had a positive attitude, and 20% demonstrated good practice of medication use during pregnancy. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that participants' attitudes and practices are significantly associated with using non-prescribed medications. Participants with negative attitudes were 8.5 times more likely to use non-prescribed medications compared to those with positive attitudes. Also, participants with poor practice were 1.6 times more likely to use non-prescribed medications compared to those with moderate or good practice. CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed inadequate levels of knowledge, and high level of poor practice among pregnant women that is associated with increased use of self- medication despite their positive attitude towards risks of medication use during pregnancy, therefore we recommend the implementation of an educational program to improve awareness among pregnant women about the importance of using medications only under medical supervision to enhance their practices.