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

Eric Rubenstein, Jessica C. Young, Lisa A. Croen, Carolyn DiGuiseppi, Nicole F. Dowling, Li Ching Lee, Laura Schieve, Lisa D. Wiggins, Julie Daniels

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)376-382
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume49
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 15 2019

Keywords

  • ASD
  • Developmental disorder
  • Opioid
  • Pregnancy
  • Risk factor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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