Use of benzodiazepine medications during pregnancy and potential risk for birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2011

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Birth Defects Res
• Personal Author:
  Tinker, Sarah C. ; Reefhuis, Jennita ; Bitsko, Rebecca H. ; Gilboa, Suzanne M. ; Mitchell, Allen A. ; Tran, Emmy L. ; Werler, Martha M. ; Broussard, Cheryl S.
• Description:
  Background ; Benzodiazepine medications can be used to treat anxiety, a condition affecting 15% of women of childbearing age in the United States. Studies have shown conflicting results for the association between benzodiazepine use during pregnancy and birth defects. ; Methods ; We analyzed 1997-2011 data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multisite, population-based case-control study. We assessed the prevalence of and factors associated with benzodiazepine use in pregnancy among mothers of live-born infants without a birth defect (control mothers). We used logistic regression to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between specific birth defects and benzodiazepine use; we estimated crude odds ratios (cORs) for defect categories with 3-4 exposed cases. ; Results ; Exposure to benzodiazepines during pregnancy was rare (N = 93/11,614; 0.8%). Benzodiazepine use was more common among control mothers who were ≥30 years, non-Hispanic white, had more education, smoked, and took antidepressant medication. We observed significantly elevated ORs for any benzodiazepine and Dandy-Walker malformation (cOR: 3.1; 95% CI: 1.1, 8.6); for alprazolam and anophthalmia or microphthalmia (cOR: 4.0; 95% CI: 1.2, 13.1) and esophageal atresia or stenosis (aOR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.2, 5.9); and lorazepam and pulmonary valve stenosis (cOR: 4.1; 95% CI: 1.2, 14.2), but sample sizes were limited and therefore CIs were wide. ; Conclusions ; Our findings suggest that benzodiazepines use is rare and may be associated with risk for certain birth defects. However, these results need replication and should be interpreted with caution.
• Subjects:
  • Abnormalities, Drug-Induced
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Benzodiazepines
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Congenital Abnormalities
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Logistic Models
  More +
• Source:
  Birth Defects Res. 111(10):613-620
• Pubmed ID:
  30891943
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7186570
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/United States ; U01 DD001224/DD/NCBDD CDC HHS/United States
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  111
• Issue:
  10
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/87330/cdc_87330_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 443.78 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b50c313e0be3b5d98aa11febd64e13cef4b2dc8e092b42dd98ae607f1c4a2e71215d1e5d009c09b35a102aea987880a66b4818e2eeaae39715ff9e7ae25da673