Assessing the quality of antenatal corticosteroids in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the administration of intramuscular antenatal corticosteroids to women at risk of preterm birth to prevent preterm-associated neonatal mortality and morbidity. Poor quality medicines are a major problem for health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), however the quality of antenatal corticosteroids is not well understood. We aimed to conduct a systematic review of available studies describing the quality of recommended injectable antenatal corticosteroids (dexamethasone or betamethasone) in LMICs. METHODS: Structured search strategy was applied to six databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, International Pharmaceutical A..