Bipolar women's antepartum psychotropic exposure and offspring risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders 2021-12, Vol.295, p.1407-1414
• Main Authors: Yeh, Ta-Chuan, Bai, Ya-Mei, Hsu, Ju-Wei, Huang, Kai-Ling, Tsai, Shih-Jen, Chu, Hsuan-Te, Liang, Chih-Sung, Chen, Mu-Hong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bipolar disorder; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Prenatal exposure delayed effects; Psychotropic drugs
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.09.016

•To explore the association of exposure timing and psychotropics class with offspring risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in mothers with bipolar disorder.•Prenatal antidepressant exposure was associated with higher offspring risk of ADHD over all gestation periods.•Mood stabilizers were associated with higher risk of ADHD and ASD when exposing before pregnancy. Women with bipolar disorder (BD) may continue psychotropics during pregnancy. The association of exposure to antidepressant, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers with offspring risks of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains unexplored in mothers with BD. A total of 5669 pregnant women with BD and 5669 psychiatrically healthy controls were identified between 2002 and 2011 from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. We analyzed the odds ratios (ORs) of psychotropic types and exposure periods (3 months before pregnancy [3MbPreg] and first, second, and third trimesters [T1, T2, T3, respectively]) on the risk of ADHD and ASD by using adjusted logistic regression analyses. Antidepressant exposure during 3MbPreg (OR=2.15, 95% CI=1.45–3.20), T1 (OR=2.62, 95% CI=1.68–4.09), T2 (OR=2.33, 95% CI=1.18–4.63), and T3 (OR=2.33, 95% CI=1.67–6.61) was associated with increased offspring risk of ADHD, particularly for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. Mood stabilizer exposure during 3MbPreg increased the risks of ADHD (OR=2.39, 95% CI=1.45–3.95) and ASD (OR=3.89, 95% CI=1.30–11.65); a higher ADHD risk was associated with valproic acid (OR=2.43, 95% CI=1.32–4.47) and lamotrigine exposure (OR=8.24, 95% CI = 1.49–45.67); ASD risk was higher for lithium exposure (OR=6.75, 95% CI=1.41–32.28). In claims-data analyses, several clinical parameters or potential confounders may be incompletely captured. Antidepressants were associated with higher offspring risk of ADHD over all gestation periods among mothers with BD than psychiatrically healthy controls, while mood stabilizers were associated with higher risk of ADHD and ASD during 3MbPreg.