Longitudinal change in the treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy in Ontario.

BACKGROUND

Health problems associated with untreated nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) include maternal weight loss, dehydration, and electrolyte and acid-base disturbances. Negative social consequences include the deterioration of domestic, social and occupational function of the affected women. In 1994 it was documented that most physicians in Ontario tended not to treat women with NVP pharmacologically.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the longitudinal change in therapeutic practice of physicians, with respect to the treatment of NVP.

METHODS

A questionnaire was distributed to a randomly selected sample of physicians that included community-based family physicians, hospital-based family physicians, obstetricians and physicians who called the Motherisk Program for information. The participants were questioned about their choices in the pharmacological treatment of NVP. The data from the survey were compared with those from a previously published survey conducted in 1994.

RESULTS

In 1999, 90.2% of physicians surveyed reported to have used pharmacological means to treat NVP. In 1999, 95% of the physicians surveyed reported to have prescribed doxylamine succinate-pyridoxine hydrochloric acid (Diclectin), and 11% prescribed dimenhydrinate (Gravol) to treat NVP. These results are significantly different from those found in 1994 (90% prescribed Gravol as the first choice).

CONCLUSIONS

In 1999, temporally related to various educational efforts, physicians offered treatment for NVP more readily, including the drug recommended by the regulatory agency. These changes may explain in part the recently documented decrease in hospitalizations due to NVP in Canada.