Abstract

MACHADO-ALBA, Jorge Enrique; GALLO-GOMEZ, Yeinson Nabor  and  HINOJOSA-MILLAN, Salomé. Prevalence of prescription errors in the concomitant use of anticonvulsants and hormonal contraceptive drugs, Colombia, 2014. Rev Colomb Obstet Ginecol [online]. 2016, vol.67, n.1, pp.13-19. ISSN 0034-7434.  https://doi.org/10.18597/rcog.367.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of simultaneous prescription of antiepileptic drugs and identify wrong prescriptions that may affect the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives in a group of women covered under the Colombian General Social Security System in Health. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study based on records of women between 15 and 45 years of age who received at least one antiepileptic drug from March 1st to 31st 2014, included in database of a logistic operator for medication distribution for a population belonging to the Contributory and Subsidized regimes in the Colombian social security system. The evaluation included the type of hormonal contraceptive and of the anticonvulsant medication, and the frequency of concomitant prescription and of incorrect prescription of combined use of medications. Descriptive statistics were used. Results: Out of a total number of 2092 female users of antiepileptic drugs, there were 89 (4.3%) cases identified with concomitant use of at least one anticonvulsant and one contraceptive. Incorrect prescription of contraceptive methods was identified in 48 cases (54%), including the concomitant use of enzymatic-inducing anticonvulsants and combined hormonal injectable contraceptives (20 cases) or the use of combined low-dose oestrogen oral contraceptives (16 cases) or oral progestins (10 cases) and the use of non enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs and combined oral contraceptives, and high-dose oestrogens (2 cases). Conclusions: An important number of female users of anticonvulsants used hormonal contraception and almost half of them had an incorrect contraceptive prescription, creating a risk of undesired pregnancies or increasing the risk of thromboembolic disease.

Keywords : Anticonvulsants; contraceptives; pharmacoepidemiology; oral hormonal contraceptives.

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