Medication Safety in Obstetrics and Gynecology Ward in Jayanagar General Hospital, Bangalore, India

Objective: The present study is aimed at Medication Safety in Obstetrics and Gynecology Ward in Jayanagar General Hospital, Bangalore, India Methodology: It is a prospective observational study, conducted in the inpatient obstetrics and gynecology ward in Jayanagar General Hospital. The study was conducted for 6 months. CRF (Case record form) was designed to record the clinical profile and treatment pattern which contains patient demography, family history, past medication history, obstetric history and follow up and further medication safety was assessed in the patient according to WHO and US-FDA guidelines. The patient demographics and all medically relevant information were noted in a predefined data collection form. Alternatively, these case charts were reviewed for prescription legibility and completeness, unaccepted abbreviations, the capture of relevant information in case sheets, contraindication, drug interactions, and adverse drug events. Result: The data of 150 pregnant women admitted to obstetrics and gynecology ward for delivery related care during the period October 2018 to April 2019 were analyzed. It was observed that 20.67% had Hypertension, 14.67% had Gestational diabetes mellitus, and 8.67% had urinary tract infections as major comorbidities. Among the study population most of them 20.67% had oligohydramnios as a major pregnancy risk factor followed by 12% of preeclampsia and 3.33% of small for gestational age. A total of 1950 drugs were prescribed, and thus the average number of drugs per patient was 13.28. Iron, folic acid, calcium, and vitamins were the most frequently used drugs during the pregnancy. Category A drug constituted 623(54.50%) followed by category B drug 398(34.82%) out of 1950 drugs used in pregnant subjects. Another category C, D and X were 6.99%, 3.5% and 0.1% respectively. The most common drug interaction was found to be between Metronidazole and ondansetron, which may be due to high usage of tramadol and metoclopramide in pregnancy. Conclusion: Among the study patients most them 75.33% were in the age group of 21-30 years. Most of the 20.67% and 14.67% had hypertension and gestational diabetes mellitus as co-morbidities. On the review of 150 prescriptions, the average number of drugs prescribed was found to be 7.62. Iron, folic acid, calcium, and vitamins were the most frequently used drugs during the pregnancy. Most of the used drugs were from Category A (54.50%). Only 0.1% of the drug were from Category X. There were 183 possible risks of major potential drug interactions. The most common interaction was between Metronidazole and ondansetron. The majority of the drugs were prescribed as per FDA category A, the safest category during pregnancy.