title: Prescribing patterns of anti-emetic drugs during pregnancy in Germany.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine the prescribing patterns of anti-emetics for pregnant women in Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  A large, nation-wide German statutory sickness fund provided data of reimbursed prescriptions and personal data for all insured women giving birth between June 2000 and May 2001 (n = 41,293). The prescribed drugs were classified according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical code.
  
  
  RESULTS
  About 13.9% (n = 5,746) of all pregnant women received an anti-emetic prescription. Over 98.5% of these women were treated with anti-emetics that are considered safe. But only 27.8% received the recommended anti-histamine meclozine and 2.1% the safest drug pyridoxine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As there are no official guidelines for the treatment of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy in Germany, many different drugs are used, sometimes ignoring effectiveness and even safety. Therefore, evidence-based guidelines for anti-emetic therapy are needed.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), University of Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, Munich 81377, Germany. markl@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Gertraud E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Markl
authors.forename: Chirstine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Strunz-Lehner
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Egen-Lappe
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hasford
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000932:Antiemetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D000932:Antiemetics