Brief Report: Maternal Opioid Prescription from Preconception Through Pregnancy and the Odds of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Autism Features in Children

J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 Jan;49(1):376-382. doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3721-8.

Abstract

Opioid use during pregnancy is associated with suboptimal pregnancy outcomes. Little is known about child neurodevelopmental outcomes. We examined associations between maternal opioid prescriptions preconception to delivery (peri-pregnancy) and child's risk of ASD, developmental delay/disorder (DD) with no ASD features, or ASD/DD with autism features in the Study to Explore Early Development, a case-control study of neurodevelopment. Preconception opioid prescription was associated with 2.43 times the odds of ASD [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.99, 6.02] and 2.64 times the odds of ASD/DD with autism features (95% CI 1.10, 6.31) compared to mothers without prescriptions. Odds for ASD and ASD/DD were non-significantly elevated for first trimester prescriptions. Work exploring mechanisms and timing between peri-pregnancy opioid use and child neurodevelopment is needed.

Keywords: ASD; Developmental disorder; Opioid; Pregnancy; Risk factor.

MeSH terms

  • Analgesics, Opioid / administration & dosage*
  • Analgesics, Opioid / adverse effects
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder / epidemiology*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Drug Utilization / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pregnancy
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / epidemiology*

Substances

  • Analgesics, Opioid