A recent large population-based retrospective study in Canada has found out that those expecting mothers who are taking the popular antidepressant drug, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have an increased risk of autism in their offspring.
"Given projections that depression will be the second leading cause of death by 2020, [antidepressants] are likely to remain widely used, including during pregnancy," wrote the researchers in their statement. "Therefore, a better understanding of the long-term neurodevelopmental effects of [antidepressants] on children when used during gestation is a public health priority."
According to the study that was published in JAMA Pediatrics, the use of antidepressants during the second and/or third trimester was associated with the risk of ASD (31 exposed infants; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.15-3.04). Among other antidepressants, it is revealed that the intake of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors during the second and/or third trimester was significantly associated with an increased risk of ASD (22 exposed infants; adjusted hazard ratio, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.20-3.93).
Newsweek reported that the study was done by researchers in the University of Montreal. They analyzed data from the Quebec Pregnancy/Children Cohort that includes data on all children born in the city between Jan. 1, 1998 and Dec. 31, 2009, adding up to 145,456 infants. A total of 1,054 (0.72 percent) were diagnosed with autism and the average age of diagnosis was 4.6 years old.
In a report from MedPage Today, Max Wiznitzer, MD, of the University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and the Children's Hospital in Cleveland, told the medical news site that, "even if the risk of ASD was doubled with SSRI use, there would be approximately a 2% chance that a child would have autism compared to approximately a 1% chance."
"That's still a 98% chance that you're not going to get autism," added Wiznitzer. "The media will say 'The risk is two-fold, oh my God!' But I think what we have to say is the absolute numbers are much more important."
