Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026

Sampling Cerebrospinal Fluid and Blood from Lateral Tail Vein in Rats During EEG Recordings
Published on: September 1, 2023
Risk perception and medicines information needs in pregnant women with epilepsy--a qualitative study
Sofia Frost Widnes1, Jan Schjøtt, Anne Gerd Granas
1Centre for Pharmacy, Institute of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. sofia.frost.widnes@helse-bergen.no
Purpose:
To explore risk perception and medicines information needs in pregnant women with epilepsy (WWE).
Method:
In-depth interviews with pregnant WWE treated with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).
Results:
Ten women aged 22-39 years in 20-34 weeks' gestation were interviewed. Avoiding seizures by taking AEDs in pregnancy outweighed perceived risks, but dose adjustments during and after pregnancy increased perceived risks of teratogenicity or seizures. The women had restrictive attitudes towards taking medicines for other indications than epilepsy. They appreciated their neurologist as a source for medicines information, though their needs for medicines information were reduced by long-term use of AEDs.
Conclusions:
Pregnant WWE were confident in using AEDs through communication with their neurologist, but dose adjustments caused concern. Medicines information to pregnant WWE should focus on empowering the women to control the disease, supporting realistic risk perceptions of AEDs and other necessary medicines. In this article, we outline some medicines information strategies to pregnant WWE.
Related Concept Videos
Epilepsy and Seizures: Overview
Various factors can trigger epilepsy, including genetic factors, brain damage, metabolic causes, and unknown etiology. Diagnosis of epilepsy involves electroencephalography (EEG), which...
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast, controlled...
Factors Affecting Drug Response: Overview
Antiepileptic Drugs: Potassium Channel Activators
Ezogabine has gained approval as an adjunctive treatment...
Pharmacovigilance
This process, termed pharmacovigilance, aims to detect, evaluate, and minimize harmful effects related to medication use. The data collection for pharmacovigilance depends on spontaneous reporting systems, where healthcare professionals or patients voluntarily report suspected ADRs.
In some cases, there...
Drug Toxicity: Risk factors