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Objective: Some atypical antipsychotics are associated with metabolic side effects, which are risk factors for gestational diabetes. The authors examined the risk of developing gestational diabetes associated with the continuation of treatment with aripiprazole, ziprasidone, quetiapine, risperidone, and olanzapine during pregnancy compared with discontinuation of these antipsychotic drugs., Method: Nondiabetic pregnant women who were linked to a live-born infant and enrolled in Medicaid (2000-2010) and who received one or more prescriptions dispensed for an antipsychotic drug during the 3 months before pregnancy were included in the analyses. Among 1,543,334 pregnancies, some expectant mothers at baseline were receiving treatment with aripiprazole (N=1,924), ziprasidone (N=673), quetiapine (N=4,533), risperidone (N=1,824), or olanzapine (N=1,425). For each antipsychotic drug, women with two or more dispensings ("continuers") were compared with women with no dispensings ("discontinuers") during the first half of pregnancy. A generalized linear model and propensity-score stratification were used to obtain absolute and relative risks of developing gestational diabetes, with adjustment for confounders., Results: Women who continued antipsychotic treatment during pregnancy generally had higher comorbidity and longer baseline antipsychotic use. The crude risk of developing gestational diabetes among continuers compared with discontinuers, respectively, was 4.8% and 4.5% for aripiprazole, 4.2% and 3.8% for ziprasidone, 7.1% and 4.1% for quetiapine, 6.4% and 4.1% for risperidone, and 12.0% and 4.7% for olanzapine. The adjusted relative risks were 0.82 (95% CI=0.50-1.33) for aripiprazole, 0.76 (95% CI=0.29-2.00) for ziprasidone, 1.28 (95% CI=1.01-1.62) for quetiapine, 1.09 (95% CI=0.70-1.70) for risperidone, and 1.61 (95% CI=1.13-2.29) for olanzapine., Conclusions: Compared with women who discontinued use of an atypical antipsychotic medication before the start of pregnancy, women who continued treatment with olanzapine or quetiapine had an increased risk of gestational diabetes that may be explained by the metabolic effects associated with these two drugs.

Objective: To evaluate whether psychostimulants used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are associated with risk of adverse placental-associated pregnancy outcomes including preeclampsia, placental abruption, growth restriction, and preterm birth., Methods: We designed a population-based cohort study in which we examined a cohort of pregnant women and their liveborn neonates enrolled in Medicaid from 2000 to 2010. Women who received amphetamine-dextroamphetamine or methylphenidate monotherapy in the first half of pregnancy were compared with unexposed women. We considered atomoxetine, a nonstimulant ADHD medication, as a negative control exposure. To assess whether the risk period extended to the latter half of pregnancy, women who continued stimulant monotherapy after 20 weeks of gestation were compared with those who discontinued. Risk ratios and 95% CIs were estimated with propensity score stratification to control for confounders., Results: Pregnancies exposed to amphetamine-dextroamphetamine (n=3,331), methylphenidate (n=1,515), and atomoxetine (n=453) monotherapy in early pregnancy were compared with 1,461,493 unexposed pregnancies. Among unexposed women, the risks of the outcomes were 3.7% for preeclampsia, 1.4% for placental abruption, 2.9% for small for gestational age, and 11.2% for preterm birth. The adjusted risk ratio for stimulant use was 1.29 for preeclampsia (95% CI 1.11-1.49), 1.13 for placental abruption (0.88-1.44), 0.91 for small for gestational age (0.77-1.07), and 1.06 for preterm birth (0.97-1.16). Compared with discontinuation (n=3,527), the adjusted risk ratio for continuation of stimulant use in the latter half of pregnancy (n=1,319) was 1.26 for preeclampsia (0.94-1.67), 1.08 for placental abruption (0.67-1.74), 1.37 for small for gestational age (0.97-1.93), and 1.30 for preterm birth (1.10-1.55). Atomoxetine was not associated with the outcomes studied., Conclusion: Psychostimulant use during pregnancy was associated with a small increased relative risk of preeclampsia and preterm birth. The absolute increases in risks are small and, thus, women with significant ADHD should not be counseled to suspend their ADHD treatment based on these findings.

Objective: Given the increasing use and broadening of indications for use of antipsychotic medications in the general population, as well as the paucity of information on the safety of this drug class during pregnancy, the study documented patterns of antipsychotic medication use among pregnant women., Methods: Medicaid Analytic eXtract data (2001-2010) from pregnant women who delivered live-born infants were used. Antipsychotic use at both the class and the individual drug level was defined based on dispensed outpatient prescriptions. Users' characteristics, including mental disorder diagnoses, were described. Temporal trends in use, as well as discontinuation patterns and psychotropic polytherapy, during pregnancy were evaluated., Results: Among 1,522,247 pregnancies, the prevalence of use of second-generation antipsychotics at any time during pregnancy increased threefold, from .4% to 1.3%, over the ten-year period, while the use of first-generation antipsychotics remained stable at around .1%. The increased use of second-generation antipsychotics was largely driven by more frequent use among patients with bipolar disorder. Quetiapine and aripiprazole were the most frequently dispensed drugs, and polytherapy with antipsychotics and antidepressants (65.2%), benzodiazepines (24.9%), and other mood stabilizers (22.0%) was common. More than 50% of women receiving an antipsychotic in the three months prior to pregnancy discontinued the drug during pregnancy., Conclusions: A growing number of pregnant women in Medicaid are exposed to second-generation antipsychotics, frequently in combination with other psychotropic medications. This study highlights the importance of documenting the use and safety of these drugs during pregnancy to inform therapeutic decision making for pregnant women with psychiatric disorders.