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 Abs..