Management of prescription and nonprescription drug use during pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
To assess screening and treatment patterns of obstetrician-gynecologists regarding medication use during pregnancy.


METHODS
A questionnaire was mailed to 770 members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists who participate in the Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network.


RESULTS
The response rate was 58%. Most respondents reported always asking pregnant patients about use of over-the-counter (OTC) (86%) and prescription (98%) drugs; 24% reported not always asking about alternative medications. Far fewer reported always asking nonpregnant patients about use of alcohol (67%), illegal drugs (51%) and OTC medications (52%) than pregnant patients. Two-fifths (41%) reported prescribing a medication during pregnancy for which they had insufficient information about potential effects on the fetus; nearly half (47%) reported that there are medical conditions for which they would like to prescribe medications but do not due to insufficient safety information. Physician responses indicate that they are less likely to refer pregnant than nonpregnant patients to a specialist for treatment of certain conditions.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that obstetrician-gynecologists sometimes prescribe medications for pregnant patients under less than optimal conditions and emphasize the importance of generating up-to-date information on effects of medications during pregnancy and having it readily available to health care providers.
Morgan
Maria A
MA
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Washington, DC 20024, USA. mmorgan@acog.org
Cragan
Janet D
JD
Goldenberg
Robert L
RL
Rasmussen
Sonja A
SA
Schulkin
Jay
J
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations