Previous studies have shown that children who are exposed to opioid pain drugs, while in the uterus have higher rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but a new study finds that any increased risk could be explained. Emma N. Cleary of the University of Indiana Bloomington, USA and his colleagues published these findings on September 16th In open access magazine Drug plos.
Opioids are usually prescribed to help manage pain during pregnancy, but it is not clear whether exposure to opioids to Utero increases the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD and ADHD. In the new study, the researchers were looking for links between the dose and the duration of opioid exposure during pregnancy and the child’s risk of being later diagnosed with these two conditions.
The researchers examined ASD’s rates in more than 1.2 million children born in Sweden between 2007 and 2018 and ADHD rates to more than 900,000 children born between 2007 and 2015, along with their level of opioid pain during pregnancy. They saw that while 2.0% of non -exposed children had ASD by 10 years, 2.9% of children exposed at a low dose of opioids and 3.6% of children exposed at a high dose were diagnosed with the situation. ADHD prices followed a similar trend. However, when the researchers used statistical methods and different comparisons to examine the confusion of genetic and environmental factors that may hide the relationship between opioid and neurodevelopmental disorders, the increased risk has disappeared.
The researchers warned that their study did not examine the impact of extremely high doses and long -term opioids, since their set of data did not include such information due to Swedish practical prescription opioids. However, overall, the findings provide minimal evidence that exposure to prescription opioid pain during pregnancy significantly increases the child’s risk of autism and ADHD at levels studied.
Emma N. Cleary says: “We wanted to conduct this study to help provide more information on pregnant people and doctors trying to make complex decisions on how to better manage pain during pregnancy. On the safety of these drugs during pregnancy.
We are excited to share our findings because we believe they have significant clinical effects. Our findings indicate that the observed correlations between the prenatal exposure to analgesic opioids and two large neurodevelopmental disorders-auto and ADHD are largely driven by factors that lead to opioid analgesic use rather than exposure to opioids itself. Therefore, our results clarify the critical need to provide pregnant people with psychosocial support and pain -based pain tools based on evidence. These may include both pharmaceutical and non -pharmaceutical approaches. ”
Ayesha C. Sujan, co-author
Source:
Magazine report:
Cleary, en, et al. (2025) Preliminary use of opioid analgesic use during pregnancy and a risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children: retrospective study in Sweden. Drug plos. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004721
