Ensuring drug safety for pregnant women through prescription drug monitoring is essential. The aim of this study was to describe the prescription pattern of medicines among pregnant immigrant women from countries with high migratory pressure (HMPCs) compared to pregnant Italian women. The prevalence of drug prescriptions among the two study populations was analysed through record linkage procedures applied to the administrative databases of eight Italian regions, from 2016 to 2018. The overall prevalence of drug prescription was calculated considering all women who received at least one prescription during the study period. Immigrants had a lower prevalence of drug prescriptions before (51.0% vs. 58.6%) and after pregnancy (55.1% vs. 60. 3%). Conversely, during pregnancy, they obtained a slightly higher number of prescriptions (74.9% vs. 72.8%). The most prescribed class of drugs was the blood and haematopoietic organs category (category ATC B) (56.4% vs. 45.9%, immigrants compared to Italians), followed by antimicrobials (31.3% vs. 33.7%). Most prescriptions were appropriate, while folic acid administration 3 months before conception was low for both study groups (3.9% immigrants and 6.2% Italians). Progesterone seemingly was prescribed against early pregnancy loss, more frequently among Italians (16.5% vs. 8.1% immigrants). Few inappropriate medications were prescribed among antihypertensives, statins and anti-inflammatory drugs in both study groups.
Keywords: drug prescription; immigrants; inappropriate prescribing; pharmacoepidemiology; pregnant women; prevalence.