title: Determinants of medication use in a multi-ethnic population of pregnant women: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate determinants of medication use among multi-ethnic pregnant women.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 641 pregnant women participated in this cross-sectional study in a Brussels university hospital. A questionnaire was used to obtain data on socio-demographic characteristics and medication use. Chi-squared tests and binary logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS 19.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Medication use during pregnancy (37%) was positively associated with age older than 35 years, Western origin, being born in Belgium, high education and employment status. Highly educated Western women had a greater exposure to drugs with an unknown safety profile than Arab/Turkish and 'Other (non-Western) origins' women. In the latter two groups, low education and nulliparity were the most important determinants of lower drug use. Nulliparous Arab/Turkish women used significantly less medications (17%) during pregnancy than parous women with the same ethnic background (34%; p = 0.024).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medication use during pregnancy is considerable but differs according to ethnicity. Age, parity, educational level, occupational status and duration of stay in Belgium are important determinants that should be taken into account for risk assessment and preventive measures targeting pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: * Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, UZ Brussel and Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel , Brussels , Belgium.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baraka
authors.forename: Stephane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Steurbaut
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coomans
authors.forename: Alain G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Dupont
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D055553:Prescription Drugs