Self medication practice among pregnant women attending antenatal care at health centers in Bukavu, Eastern DR Congo
There is growing concern about self medication during pregnancy in many low resource countries. Despite its adverse impact on pregnancy, at the eastern of DR Congo, no study was conducted on this question until now. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with self medication among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Bukavu town. A cross sectional analytical study was conducted in 14 health centers of Bukavu from March to April 2015. Multi stage sampling method was used to select 920 pregnant mothers. We chose fourteen health centers from all health centers in Bukavu by a simple random method. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to reveal association with self medication practice. Results revealed a prevalence of self medication (61.3% among pregnant women interviewed. Reasons for practicing self medication were disease not serious, prior experience about the drug, economical cost and easy access to the drug without prescription. The main drugs used were paracetamol (40.8% amoxicillin (17.1% and papaverin (13.4% The factors associated with the self medication in Bukavu town were previous self medication practice, drugs advised by pharmacist/druggist, lack of sensibilisation on the drug