| The use during pregnancy of prescription, over-the-counter, and alternative medications among Hispanic women. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 20887537 Owner: NLM Status: In-Process |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
BACKGROUND: Despite lack of scientific evidence about the safety of complementary and alternative medicines, the reported use of such remedies during pregnancies has increased. This study was undertaken to investigate the use of herbs, vitamins, and over-the-counter and prescription medications among pregnant Hispanic women and reasons for use, and to assess physician-patient level of communication about women's use. METHODS: A total of 485 Hispanic women were surveyed by means of a self-administered questionnaire immediately postpartum in a public hospital in Houston, Texas. The primary outcome was use of alternative therapies during the prenatal period. RESULTS: During their pregnancies, 19 percent of the participants took herbs and 47 percent took vitamin supplements, other than prenatal vitamins. The most common reason for using herbs and vitamins was to improve the woman's general health and energy level (59%); a few women (12%) had used them for specific pregnancy-related problems. Overall, 77 percent took prenatal vitamins and 21 percent supplemented with folic acid. The rates of use of over-the-counter and prescription medications were 23 and 29 percent, respectively. The use of prescription medication was two-and-a-half times higher among women with history of medical problems (adjusted OR = 2.59, 95% CI = 1.59-4.25, p = 0.0001). No other factor studied was independently associated with supplement or medication use. One in five women (20%) believed that herbs and vitamins were safer to use than prescription medication or were better at treating medical problems than prescription medicine, and one-third had not disclosed information about supplement use to their physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Use of herbal remedies does not appear to be a replacement for conventional medicine among most pregnant Hispanic women. Patient education about the risks of alternative therapies may lead to a reduction in intake of alternative medicines and greater disclosure to medical practitioners among this ethnic group. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Jennifer Bercaw; Bani Maheshwari; Haleh Sangi-Haghpeykar |
Related Documents
:
|
20736427 - Medication history reconciliation by clinical pharmacists in elderly inpatients admitte... 18668577 - Trends in out-of-pocket medical care expenditures for medicare-age adults with arthriti... 20110007 - The role of patient inexperience in medication discontinuation: a retrospective analysi... 18774867 - Differences in generic drug prices between the us and canada. 10181337 - Validation of claims diagnoses and self-reported conditions compared with medical recor... 15068277 - The role of information technology in reducing medical errors. |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) Volume: 37 ISSN: 1523-536X ISO Abbreviation: Birth Publication Date: 2010 Sep |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2010-10-04 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 8302042 Medline TA: Birth Country: United States |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 211-8 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
|
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Physical activity and hypertensive complications during pregnancy: findings from 2004 to 2006 North ...
Next Document: Advanced maternal age and the risk of cesarean birth: a systematic review.