Autism risk may increase slightly after antidepressant use in pregnancy: study
- December 17, 2015, 7:30 pm
- National News
- 102 Views
HQ City Desk
QUETTA: Children with autism spectrum disorder may have difficulty communicating and show repetitive behaviour
Taking antidepressants during pregnancy may slightly increase the risk of having a child with autism, but the chances of having a baby without the disorder are still about 98.8 per cent, new Canadian research suggests.
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have difficulties with social communicating and show repetitive behaviour. It occurs in about one per cent of the general population worldwide.
The causes of autism spectrum disorder are mysterious. Some research points to genetic vulnerability, but genes alone don't offer a full explanation.
That's why investigators at the University of Montreal consider it a public health priority to try to understand the long-term effects of taking antidepressants in pregnancy on the neurodevelopment of children, given that 4.5 per cent of pregnant women in Canada have reported using antidepressants.
Anick Bérard, a pharmacy professor at the University of Montreal, is the latest to analyze data on births in Quebec between 1998 and 2009, antidepressant prescriptions from the province's public prescription drug insurance plan and medical claims for autism spectrum disorder.
"Use of antidepressants, specifically selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, during the second and/or third trimester increases the risk of autism spectrum disorder in children, even after considering maternal depression," Bérard and her team said in Monday's issue of the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Among mothers who filled at least one prescription for antidepressants during their second and/or third trimester, the risk of having an autistic child was 1.87 times higher.
Among those who tooks SSRIs such as fluoxetine (Prozac) or paroxetine (Paxil), the risk was 2.17 times higher.
A journal editorial by Dr. Bryan King of the department of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the University of Washington provides the real numbers broken down by trimester.
Of the 2, 532 children exposed to the drugs during the second or third trimester, 31 had autism spectrum disorder — an additional 12 children affected with ASD than would otherwise be expected.
"Of course, even one potentially preventable case is noteworthy," King said. "But this finding must also be viewed in the context of other risks."
The findings are still within the range of autism prevalence reported across Canada and the U.S., said Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou, a senior clinician scientist at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto.
