Utilização de medicamentos por gestantes usuárias do Sistema Único de Saúde no município de Santa Rosa (RS, Brasil) / /Prescribed and unprescribed drug use among pregnant patients attended by the Unified Health System in Santa Rosa (State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
In order to ascertain the use of prescribed and unprescribed drugs among pregnant patients of the Unified Health System (SUS), a descriptive study comprised of a sample of pregnant women was carried out in the city of Santa Rosa, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Data were collected by means of structured interviews and consultation of patientrecords of pregnant women in the prenatal period. The prevalence of drug use was 90 percent, corresponding to an average of 4.1 drugs per pregnant woman, of which 83.6 percent were prescribed and 16.4 percent were self-medicated. Of this total, 17.5 percent of the drugs were included in fetal risk category C. The use of drugs during pregnancy is frequent and the majority of the pregnant women used one or more prescribed and unprescribed drugs during pregnancy. These data suggest the need for preventive measures to promote rational drug use during pregnancy.(AU)