Analgesic use in pregnancy linked to increased risk of schizophrenia
Children born to women who took analgesics in the second trimester of pregnancy may have an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, say Danish researchers.
They studied data from almost 8,000 people from two registers, the Copenhagen
Perinatal Cohort and the Danish Psychiatric Central Register, to investigate
the relationship between prenatal exposure to analgesics and admission
to psychiatric hospital later in life.
Data on medicines taken for at least five days during pregnancy were
analysed, and both prescribed analgesics and those bought over-the-counter
were included.
After adjusting the results for possible confounding factors, such as
parental history of schizophrenia, viral infections in the second trimester
and concomitant drug treatment, the researchers found the estimated risk
of schizophrenia to be over four times greater in those who were exposed
to analgesics in the second trimester than in those who were not (adjusted
odds ratio 4.75, 95 per cent confidence interval 1.9–12.0). The
association was slightly stronger in females than in males. In the first
trimester the risk was only significant for the third month and it was
not significant in the third trimester.
The researchers suggest that the second trimester of pregnancy may be
a period when the developing brain is particularly sensitive to a range
of environmental influences and that chemical substances may disrupt
fetal neurodevelopment. However, they also note that women who took analgesics
during this period were also more likely to take medicines for psychiatric
conditions.
They suggest that a larger cohort study is needed to separate the effects
of prenatal exposure to analgesics from the somatic or psychosomatic
conditions prompting their use (British Journal of Psychiatry 2004;185:366). |
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