PATTERNS OF REGULAR DRUG-USE IN SPANISH CHILDBEARING WOMEN - CHANGES ELICITED BY PREGNANCY

Objective: To determine drug use in Spanish women before pregnancy and from conception to the awareness of pregnancy (early period of pregna ncy EPP), as well as to analyse attitudinal changes when pregnancy was planned or known. Methods: Trained gynaecologists used a structured q uestionnaire to collect demographic and obstetric characteristics, his tories of regular drug taking before pregnancy, attitudes towards drug taking during pregnancy and current drug use in the EPP. Women were i nterviewed at their first antenatal visit during the first trimester. Results: Two hundred and seventy-two women were included (mean age 29. 3 years and 66.3 days of gestation). Before pregnancy, 24% regularly t ook drugs, 70% of them more than twice a week; a significantly higher frequency was found in those receiving public antenatal care and in th ose who had had less education. In 39% of women, awareness of pregnanc y did not change their attitudes towards regular drug use. Among those who decided to suppress their regular drug intake, 58% did so when th eir pregnancy was confirmed and 42% when they planned it. In women who planned their pregnancy, 30.1% stopped when they tried to become preg nant. However, 62% of all women took drugs during the EPP. In private antenatal care significantly more drugs were taken per patient. By the 168 women 278 compounds were consumed during the EPP: 40% were analge sics (mainly paracetamol and acetylsalicylic acid) and 25% were digest ive and metabolic drugs (mainly antacids and laxatives). Drugs were of ten used more than twice a week, particularly in women receiving publi c antenatal care and in those who had had less education. Conclusion: Drug taking is common in Spanish women of childbearing age, and many o f those in our study did not decide to stop during the EPP. Few women avoid drugs when planning a pregnancy. Therefore, gynaecologists must advise against drug taking in patients who wish to become pregnant and suggest that unnecessary drug use be avoided when the pregnancy is al ready diagnosed.