Self-Treatment During Pregnancy and Its Related Factors

Introduction: Increasing self-treatment is one of the most important problems in the health system most importantly during pregnancy. Objective: To determine the status of self-treatment and its related factors in pregnant women in Ahwaz. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study evaluates the status of self-treatment during pregnancy for 400 women who have gave birth in the educational hospitals in Ahwaz. The sampling method was convenient and the data was collected by interviews and the completion of questionnaires. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and logistic regression tests. Results: In this study, 25.8% of all the studied women underwent self-treatment. The most common causes included believing in the treatment of disease with medication alone, believing in the safety of medications, and the availability of medications at home. The educational level of the pregnant women (95% CI=0.92-5.43, β=2.24) and their place of residence (95% CI=0.249-0.866, β=0.46) were associated with the self-medication rate. Conclusion: Since one-fourth of the studied population underwent self-medication and with the common causes related to the availability and the belief in safety of medications, in order to raise the awareness of pregnant women and reduce the rate of self-treatment, which may lead to neonatal abnormalities, it is essential that healthcare providers and pharmacists educate pregnant women.