Medicines information needs during pregnancy: a multinational comparison

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to assess the perceived needs of medicines information and information sources for pregnant women in various countries. DESIGN: Cross-sectional internet-based study. SETTING: Multinational. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women and women with children less than 25 weeks. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The need for information about medicines was assessed by a question: ‘Did you need information about medicines during the course of your pregnancy?’ A list of commonly used sources of information was given to explore those that are used. RESULTS: Altogether, 7092 eligible women responded to the survey (5090 pregnant women and 2002 women with a child less than 25 weeks). Of the respondents, 57% (n=4054, range between different countries 46–77%) indicated a need for information about medicines during their pregnancy. On average, respondents used three different information sources. The most commonly used information sources were healthcare professionals—physicians (73%), pharmacy personnel (46%) and midwifes or nurses (33%)—and the internet (60%). There were distinct differences in the information needs and information sources used in different countries. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of pregnant women have perceived information needs about medicines during pregnancy, and they rely on healthcare professionals. The internet is also a widely used information source. Further studies are needed to evaluate the use of the internet as a medicines information source by pregnant women.