Abstract:
Background: The concern of using medicines in pregnancy is due to the threat of
potential teratogenic effects of the drug and physiologic adjustments in the mother in
response to the pregnancy. Aim: to determine the distributions of therapeutic
categories and FDA pregnancy categories among drug prescribed for pregnant
women in Sana`a-Yemen. Methods: A sample of 924 medications orders prescribed
for pregnant women in Sana`a-Yemen, was analyzed in this study. The sample was
divided into two groups: Hospital and clinic prescriptions. Within each group, drugs
were categorized according to their therapeutic effects and then according to the
FDA system of classification for drugs in pregnancy. Results: The overall
distributions of GIT drugs (29.2 %,), systemic antibacterials (18.3%) and vitamins
hematinics (17%), among the prescribed drugs, were larger than the other categories.
Based on the FDA system, the overall distributions of FDA categories A, B, C, D, X
and the non-classified category among the prescribed drugs were 8.2%, 40.9 %, 20.3
%, 4.6 %, 0.7 % and 25.3 %, respectively. There were no significant variations (P >
0.05) in the distribution of therapeutic or FDA categories between the hospital and
clinic prescriptions. Conclusions: Majority (64.5 %) of drugs prescribed for pregnant
women in Sana`a-Yemen belongs to the GIT drugs, systemic antibacterials, vitamins
and hematinics categories. In another respect, the distribution of risky drugs
belonging to FDA categories (D and X) and the non-classified category comprises
30.6 % of all drugs prescribed for pregnant women.
