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SSRI use during pregnancy may increase risk for speech, language disorders
Exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in utero may increase risk for speech and language disorders, according to recent findings.
“Use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy is increasing, with recent prevalence estimates of 4% to 10%. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors cross the placenta and enter the fetal circulation.,” Alan S. Brown, MD, MPH, of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, and colleagues wrote. “Exposure to SSRIs during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk of autism in some studies (although many studies have not replicated these findings) and to neonatal adaptation syndrome.”
To determine associations between SSRI use during pregnancy and speech/language, scholastic and motor disorders in offspring up to early adolescence, researchers examined national population-based register data in Finland from 1996 to 2010. Analysis included 15,596 offspring exposed to SSRIs; 9,537 offspring whose mothers were diagnosed with depression or related disorders and unmedicated; and 31,207 offspring who were unexposed to SSRIs and psychiatric disorders.
Mean age at diagnosis was 4.43 years for speech/language disorders, 3.55 years for scholastic disorders and 7.73 motor disorders.
Risk for speech/language disorders was 37% higher among offspring whose mothers purchased SSRIs at least twice during pregnancy, compared with offspring whose mothers had depressive disorders but were unmedicated.
Offspring exposed to SSRIs had a cumulative hazard for speech/language disorders of 0.0087, compared with 0.0061 among the unmedicated group (HR = 1.37; 95% CI, 1.11-1.7; P = .004).
Compared with unexposed offspring, risk for speech/language disorders was significantly higher among the SSRI group and the unmedicated group.
There were no differences between the SSRI group and unmedicated group regarding scholastic and motor disorders, according to researchers.
“Using a large, national birth cohort observed from birth to 14 years, we have provided novel evidence of an association between speech/language disorders in offspring and SSRI use during pregnancy while accounting for maternal depression and other psychiatric disorders. The finding was observed only in offspring of mothers who purchased at least two SSRI prescriptions during pregnancy,” the researchers wrote. “This finding is particularly noteworthy because these women were more likely to have taken these medications and were exposed for a longer period and to larger amounts of SSRIs during pregnancy compared with women who filled only one prescription. In the whole sample, irrespective of the number of purchases, the risk of speech/language disorders was increased among offspring of mothers who used SSRIs during pregnancy as well as offspring of mothers diagnosed as having depression or other psychiatric disorders who did not take SSRIs compared with offspring of mothers with neither SSRI use nor psychiatric diagnoses.” – by Amanda Oldt
Disclosure: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for a full list of relevant financial disclosures.