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. 2020 Dec;11(6):373-379.
doi: 10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.6.05.

Use, Awareness, Knowledge and Beliefs of Medication During Pregnancy in Malaysia

Ahmad Habeeb Hattab Dala Ali Alani  1 , Bassam Abdul Rasool Hassan  2 , Azyyati Mohd Suhaimi  1 , Ali Haider Mohammed  3
Affiliations

Use, Awareness, Knowledge and Beliefs of Medication During Pregnancy in Malaysia

Ahmad Habeeb Hattab Dala Ali Alani et al. Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to assess medication use in pregnant women in Malaysia by measuring use, knowledge, awareness, and beliefs about medications.

Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study involving a total of 447 pregnant women who attended the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic, Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL), Malaysia. A validated, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect participant data.

Results: Most of pregnant women had taken medication during pregnancy and more than half of them (52.8%) showed a poor level of knowledge about the medication use during pregnancy. Eighty-three percent had a poor level of awareness and 56.5% had negative beliefs. Age and education level were significantly associated with the level of knowledge regarding medication use during pregnancy. Multiparous pregnant women, and pregnant women from rural areas were observed to have a higher level of awareness compared with those who lived in urban areas. Use of medication during pregnancy was determined to be significantly associated with education level, and race.

Conclusion: Although there was prevalent use of medication among pregnant women, many had negative beliefs, and insufficient knowledge and awareness about the risks of taking medication during pregnancy. Several sociodemographic characteristics were significantly associated with the use (race and education level), level of knowledge (age and education level), awareness (parity and place of residence), and beliefs (race, education level, and occupation status) towards medication use during pregnancy.

Keywords: awareness; belief; knowledge; medications; pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Source of information regarding the medication used by pregnant women.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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