Pregnancy drug use in Beijing district during 2016-2018: an analysis of
data from Beijing Prescription Evaluation System
Abstract
Aims: To investigate the characteristics of prescriptions during
pregnancy from Beijing Prescription Comment System from 2016 to 2018.
Methods: Data was extracted and selected in the system with key words
according to inclusion criteria. We examined patterns and assessed risks
with FDA category categorization. Factors associated to D/X, C, N/A
categories were explored through multivariate logistic regression. We
re-classified the drugs with Briggs categorization of B, C, D, N/A
categories. Results: From 5,446,561 prescriptions of Beijing
Prescription Comment System, 647 varieties of chemical or biomedical
drugs with 112,566 prescriptions were finally included. The
prescriptions majorly distributed on patients from 25 to 35 years
(68.17%), in 1st and 2nd trimesters (75.05%). Drugs in FDA category
were followed by B (23.83%), C (13.37%), X (6.17%), A (3.26%), D
(1.7%), while 51.68% not available. In D/X categories, estrogens,
assisted reproductive drugs and imaging testing drugs were most. Within
X category, prescriptions showed an increase in women under 25 years
from 216 to 2018. In drugs of D/X categories, gestational week under 12
weeks (OR=3.259, 95%CI, 1.441-7.37) matters most among risk factors of
specialized hospitals, gestational age between 30 and 35, and
non-obstetrics and gynecology departments. Under Briggs categorization,
FDA category C contains more risk drugs in animal or human tests
(74.25%) according to Briggs categorization. Conclusions: This research
explored exposure of pregnant women to potential risk drugs by FDA
category and Briggs categorization. Main characteristics and risk
factors revealed by this study should be monitored in the ongoing
studies on pregnancy drug safety.