Malaria in pregnancy is a huge burden and the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of artemisinin-combination therapy in its treatment. This study aim to assess the prescription pattern of antimalarial among pregnant women in Jos. Method: The study was conducted at the antenatal clinic of Jos University Teaching Hospital, Bingham University Teaching Hospital and Plateau State Specialist hospital, all in Jos. The study was a descriptive prospective design from 2018 to 2019. All pregnant women who visited the antenatal clinic and were prescribed antimalarial were included in the study. Sample size was 392 and participants were selected using a systemic random sampling method. There were two groups: One being the women who were treated for malaria and the other group was those who had no malaria and used only sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine for prophylaxis during this current pregnancy. The data was analyzed as descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23. Results: The antimalarial prescription pattern in pregnancy was assessed and majority of the participants (44.1%) were between 20-29 years (modal age). Most of the participants (24.7%) had tertiary education and (99.2%) were married, 44.1% were Primigravidae while 55.9% were Multigravidae. Our study revealed that artemether-lumefantrine (AL) combination was mostly used (55.9%) for the treatment of malaria in pregnancy. Conclusion: An evaluation of the antimalarial drug prescription pattern will promote the availability of the needed medicines for the prophylaxis and treatment of malaria in pregnancy and ultimately enhance rational use and safety of these medicines.

Keywords : Antimalarial, Artemether-lumefantrine, prescription pattern, Nigeria