%0 Journal Article
%T Self-medication Among Pregnant Women in Effutu and Agona West Municipalities of the Central Region of Ghana - Self-medication Among Pregnant Women in Effutu and Agona West Municipalities of the Central Region of Ghana - Open Access Pub
%A Fred Yao Gbagbo
%A Jacqueline Nkrumah
%J OAP | Home | Journal of Public Health International | Open Access Pub
%D 2019
%X Self-medication in pregnancy is a health concern in Ghana. We assessed the practice among 136 pregnant women in Effutu and Agona West Municipalities using facility-based, cross-sectional design and mixed method approach of data collection. Data analysis used SPSS and manual content analysis. Results show that pregnant women of all backgrounds self-medicate, with prevalence of 69%, motivated by cheaper treatment cost (17%), minor ailments (29%) and positive outcomes (33%). Commonly used medications include antibiotics (23%), pain killers (20%) and herbal preparations (19%). Preventing self-medication in pregnancy therefore requires awareness creation and evidence based Social Behavioral Change Communication on associated dangers. DOI10.14302/issn.2641-4538.jphi-19-2965 Self-medication is a global phenomenon that has attracted lots of public and professional concerns5,6,14,16. Approximately 80% of the world¡¯s population self-medicate in one form or the other using conventional and non-conventional medicines as the first source of health care (Sulaiman, Ahmad & Daud, 2008). The act of self-medication cuts across both developed and developing countries for various reasons. It is estimated that one third and half of the population in the US and UK respectively practice self-medication3. In Africa, Southern America and some parts of Asia, self-medication is the most common form of health seeking behaviors Oreagba et al. 20105,9. Recent studies have shown that self-medication is in a ¡°crisis state¡± particularly in rural Africa due to the high prevalence of the practice1. In Nigeria and Ghana, self-medication is the commonest means by which people cope with diseases such that one in every two Ghanaians self-medicates in times of ill health22. Conventionally, pregnancy is not a state of ill health or disease. Yet, it still remains a health risk (Speidel, Rocca, Thompson & Harper, 2013). There are various medical and physiological challenges associated with it, making drug use unavoidable in pregnancy. Although harmful to mother and fetus, most pregnant women self-medicate with drugs which either do not provide adequate information on safety in pregnancy or are not endorsed for use by pregnant women8,23. Research has further suggested that the renal function and metabolic pathway of fetus develop late in pregnancy and can result in placental transfer and drug accumulation in fetus, making the use of Over-the-Counter (OTC) medicines in pregnancy dangerous and deadly to fetus15. Self-medication among pregnant women have also been found to result in prolong period
%U https://www.openaccesspub.org/jphi/article/1139