Project report
Sodium valproate prescribing safety in women of childbearing potential
Donnelly S, Alex R ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This is a clinical audit of prescribing practices for sodium valproate in women of childbearing age at a UK mental health team. It checks compliance with safety guidelines that require pregnancy prevention programmes, risk counselling, and annual specialist review. The audit found that only about half of the 27 women on the medication had proper documentation in place.
Key points
- 27 out of 594 female patients (4.5%) in the mental health caseload were prescribed sodium valproate
- Only 52% had pregnancy prevention programme documentation
- 89% had been reviewed within the last 12 months
- 48% had no documentation of contraceptive method
- The audit recommends creating a monitoring system to improve compliance with prescribing guidelines
Limitations
This audit focuses on clinical prescribing practices and compliance with safety guidelines for women, not on outcomes for children or pregnant women. It does not evaluate whether the pregnancy prevention programme itself is effective at preventing harm to children.
Abstract
Aims The purpose of this audit was to identify all women being prescribed Sodium Valproate under the Bassetlaw Local Mental Health Team (LMHT) caseload to see how well latest prescribing guidelines are being met, and help set up a system allowing efficient monitoring of Sodium Valproate prescribing in the future. Background Despite early concerns regarding potential teratogenicity, Sodium Valproate became a widely used anticonvulsant and mood stabiliser and is licensed for use in Epilepsy, Migraine prophylaxis and Bipolar affective disorder. Research evidence now shows its use in pregnancy increases risk of neurodevelopmental disorders to 40%, and serious birth defects to 10%. Despite research finding these risks prescribing practice did not significantly change. To better reflect these findings in clinical practice in 2018 the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee recommended Sodium Valproate should not be used in pregnancy unless they have a form of epilepsy unresponsive to other anti-epileptic drugs, and all with childbearing potential should be enrolled in a pregnancy prevention programme (PPP). This was endorsed by UK Medicines and Healthcare Devices Regulatory Agency in April 2018 with launch of the PPP. Standards: Must be offered counselling about risks of valproate to unborn child and importance of effective contraception. Annual specialist Review by a specialist now mandatory Risk acknowledgement form must be updated at least annually. Method The electronic RiO records for all female patients on the Bassetlaw LMHT caseload in the year 2019 were checked to identify those prescribed Valproate. For those prescribed Valproate, evidence of annual risk acknowledgement form, date of last appointment, underlying diagnosis and contraceptive method was checked. This data was stored together on an excel file and used to create a patient list to help allow future monitoring. Result From 594 female patients identified, 27 (4.5%) were prescribed Sodium Valproate. Of these, 14 (52%) had PPP documentation uploaded, 24 (89%) had been reviewed within the last 12 months, and 13 (48%) had no documentation of contraceptive method. Conclusion This audit helped highlight there is likely a large population of patients not yet on the Pregnancy Prevention Programme. Creating a monitoring system in excel for female patients being prescribed Valproate can help improve adherence to latest guidelines, with a colour coding system to highlight those needing risk acknowledgement forms/appointments within the next three or six months. Educating patients and other healthcare professionals about risks will also help improve prescribing practice and avoid use in pregnancy.