Prescription Medication Use in Pregnancy in People with Disabilities: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
J Womens Health (Larchmt)
; 33(9): 1224-1232, 2024 Sep.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38946624
ABSTRACT
Background:
Individuals with disabilities may require specific medications in pregnancy. The prevalence and patterns of medication use, overall and for medications with known teratogenic risks, are largely unknown.Methods:
This population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada, 2004-2021, comprised all recognized pregnancies among individuals eligible for public drug plan coverage. Included were those with a physical (n = 44,136), sensory (n = 13,633), intellectual or developmental (n = 2,446) disability, or multiple disabilities (n = 5,064), compared with those without a disability (n = 299,944). Prescription medication use in pregnancy, overall and by type, was described. Modified Poisson regression generated relative risks (aRR) for the use of medications with known teratogenic risks and use of ≥2 and ≥5 medications concurrently in pregnancy, comparing those with versus without a disability, adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical factors.Results:
Medication use in pregnancy was more common in people with intellectual or developmental (82.1%), multiple (80.4%), physical (73.9%), and sensory (71.9%) disabilities, than in those with no known disability (67.4%). Compared with those without a disability (5.7%), teratogenic medication use in pregnancy was especially higher in people with multiple disabilities (14.2%; aRR 2.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.88-2.20). Furthermore, compared with people without a disability (3.2%), the use of ≥5 medications concurrently was more common in those with multiple disabilities (13.4%; aRR 2.21, 95% CI 2.02-2.41) and an intellectual or developmental disability (9.3%; aRR 2.13, 95% CI 1.86-2.45).Interpretation:
Among people with disabilities, medication use in pregnancy is prevalent, especially for potentially teratogenic medications and polypharmacy, highlighting the need for preconception counseling/monitoring to reduce medication-related harm in pregnancy.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Disabled Persons
/
Prescription Drugs
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
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Humans
/
Pregnancy
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
J Womens Health (Larchmt)
Journal subject:
GINECOLOGIA
/
SAUDE DA MULHER
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Country of publication: