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Background and Aim: Consuming drugs without prescription causes many problems. This occurs more in women because this group is located in sensitive periods, for example, during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Therefore, the birth of abnormal neonatal causes many social and familial problems. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of education on knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant women on self-medication in Arak city. Materials and Methods: This is a quasi-experimental prospective study that was carried out on 200 pregnant women referring to health centers in 2008. The subjects were randomly divided in two groups of experimental and control each of which included 100 persons. Data were collected through a questionnaire consisting of knowledge and attitude questions and a performance checklist on self-medication which was used in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational program. The participants in the two groups filled out the questionnaire and checklist, then intervention was done during one month consisting of four 50-minute sessions, and finally the data of the two groups were collected and analyzed after three months of intervention. Results: The results indicated that the women’s mean score of knowledge and attitude on self-medication was moderate, and the performance on self-medication was less than average and the mean scores of experimental and control groups were 18% and 22%, respectively. The mean score of all variables in experimental group changed significantly after the intervention, and in comparison to the control group the participants’ performance on self-medication decreased (p<0/05). Conclusion: The higher the knowledge and attitude of women about self-medication are, the better the performance on correct consumption of drugs will be. The findings confirmed the effect of educational programs on self-medication for pregnant women. Therefore, it is proposed to hold educational programs in other health centers in order to decrease self-consumption of drugs. Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, self-medication

Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, self-medication

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