Teratogenic risk: the perception in population different sections

Abstract

The wrong perception of the true teratogenic risk of the drugs used in pregnancy may lead the mistaken management of pregnancy: the unnecessary termination of the wanted pregnancy or damages fetuses forever. The knowledge about the teratogenic risk is very important for the general population, and mainly for the health professionals. The perception of the teratogenic risk of fifteen common medications and two illicit drugs by physicians, medical students and lay women was assessed employing a visualanalogue scale with the percentual risk of a child born with congenital anomaly caused by drugs used during pregnancy. The average of the teratogenic risk for the assessed drugs was higher than the true risk in all groups. The most common risk of malformation in the general population was recognised by gynaecologists and obstericians. The best improvement was with the more common drugs used in pregancy (paracetamol and amoxycillin) and recognised by gynaecologists and obstetricians.