BMJ 2001;322:266-270 ( 3 February )

Papers

Risk of adverse birth outcome and miscarriage in pregnant users of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: population based observational study and case-control study

Gunnar Lauge Nielsen, consultanta Henrik Toft Sørensen, associate professorb Helle Larsen, research fellowd Lars Pedersen, biostatisticianc

a Department of Medicine, Odder Hospital, DK-8300 Odder, Denmark, b Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Medicine V, Aalborg and Aarhus University Hospitals, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, c Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, DK-8000 Aarhus C, d Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Medicine M, Aalborg Hospital, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark

Correspondence to: G L Nielsen uxgln{at}aas.nja.dk

Objective: To estimate the risk of adverse birth outcome in women who take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during pregnancy.
Design and setting: Population based cohort study and a case-control study, both based on data from a prescription registry, the Danish birth registry, and one county's hospital discharge registry.
Participants: Cohort study: 1462 pregnant women who had taken up prescriptions for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the period from 30 days before conception to birth and 17 259 pregnant women who were not prescribed any drugs during pregnancy. Case-control study: 4268 women who had miscarriages, of whom 63 had taken non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and 29 750 primiparous controls who had live births.
Main outcome measures: Incidences of congenital abnormality, low birth weight, preterm birth, and miscarriage.
Results: Odds ratios for congenital abnormality, low birth weight, and preterm birth among women who took up prescriptions for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were 1.27 (95% confidence interval 0.93 to 1.75), 0.79 (0.45 to 1.38), and 1.05 (0.80 to 1.39) respectively. Odds ratios for the taking up of prescriptions in the weeks before miscarriage ranged from 6.99 (2.75 to 17.74) when prescriptions were taken up during the last week before the miscarriage to 2.69 (1.81 to 4.00) when taken up between 7 and 9 weeks before. The risk estimates were no different when the analysis was restricted to missed abortions.
Conclusions: Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during pregnancy does not seem to increase the risk of adverse birth outcome but is associated with increased risk of miscarriage.



© BMJ 2001

Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Danish group reanalyses miscarriage in NSAID users
Gunnar Lauge Nielsen, Mette Vinther Skriver, Lars Pedersen, and Henrik Toft Sørensen
BMJ 2004 328: 109. [Extract] [Full Text]

Risk of miscarriage in pregnant users of NSAIDs
L Y Chan, P M Yuen, Petter Kristensen, G L Nielsen, H T Sørensen, H Larsen, and L Pedersen
BMJ 2001 322: 1365. [Extract] [Full Text]

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs taken during pregnancy may increase risk of miscarriage
BMJ 2001 322: 0. [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Mikkelsen, E. M, Hatch, E. E, Wise, L. A, Rothman, K. J, Riis, A., Sorensen, H. T. (2009). Cohort Profile: The Danish Web-based Pregnancy Planning Study--'Snart-Gravid'. Int J Epidemiol 38: 938-943 [Full text]  
  • Dirckx, K., Cabri, P., Merien, A., Galajdova, L., Gerris, J., Dhont, M., De Sutter, P. (2009). Does low-dose aspirin improve pregnancy rate in IVF/ICSI? A randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial. Hum Reprod 24: 856-860 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Erebara, A., Bozzo, P., Einarson, A., Koren, G. (2008). Treating the common cold during pregnancy. cfp 54: 687-689 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Jauniaux, E., Farquharson, R. G., Christiansen, O. B., Exalto, N., On behalf of ESHRE Special Interest Group for Earl, (2006). Evidence-based guidelines for the investigation and medical treatment of recurrent miscarriage. Hum Reprod 21: 2216-2222 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Wang, H., Ma, W.-g., Tejada, L., Zhang, H., Morrow, J. D., Das, S. K., Dey, S. K. (2004). Rescue of Female Infertility from the Loss of Cyclooxygenase-2 by Compensatory Up-regulation of Cyclooxygenase-1 Is a Function of Genetic Makeup. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 10649-10658 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Nielsen, G. L., Skriver, M. V., Pedersen, L., Sorensen, H. T. (2004). Danish group reanalyses miscarriage in NSAID users. BMJ 328: 109-109 [Full text]  
  • Li, D.-K., Janevic, T., Odouli, R., Liu, L. (2003). Li et al. Respond to "No Link between Hot Tubs and Miscarriage". Am J Epidemiol 158: 941-941 [Full text]  
  • Ratanajamit, C., Skriver, M. V., Norgaard, M., Jepsen, P., Schonheyder, H. C., Sorensen, H. T. (2003). Adverse pregnancy outcome in users of sulfamethizole during pregnancy: a population-based observational study. J Antimicrob Chemother 52: 837-841 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Li, D.-K., Liu, L., Odouli, R. (2003). Exposure to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during pregnancy and risk of miscarriage: population based cohort study. BMJ 327: 368- [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Norgard, B, Fonager, K, Pedersen, L, Jacobsen, B A, Sorensen, H T (2003). Birth outcome in women exposed to 5-aminosalicylic acid during pregnancy: a Danish cohort study. Gut 52: 243-247 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Siu, S.S.N., Yeung, J.H.K., Lau, T.K. (2002). An in-vivo study on placental transfer of naproxen in early human pregnancy. Hum Reprod 17: 1056-1059 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Chan, L.Y., Chiu, P.Y., Siu, S.S.N., Lau, T.K. (2001). A study of diclofenac-induced teratogenicity during organogenesis using a whole rat embryo culture model. Hum Reprod 16: 2390-2393 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Chan, L Y, Yuen, P M, Kristensen, P., Nielsen, G L, Sorensen, H T, Larsen, H, Pedersen, L (2001). Risk of miscarriage in pregnant users of NSAIDs. BMJ 322: 1365-1365 [Full text]  
  • (2001). Are NSAIDs Safe in Pregnancy?. JWatch Emergency Med. 2001: 3-3 [Full text]  
  • (2001). NSAIDs Associated with Increased Rate of Miscarriage, but Not with Poor Outcomes. JWatch General 2001: 5-5 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

NSAIDs and miscarriages
Louis Yik-si Chan
bmj.com, 9 Feb 2001 [Full text]
Re: NSAIDs and miscarriages
Marsham Moselhi
bmj.com, 11 Feb 2001 [Full text]
Miscarriage and NSAID's
Melissa Buttini
bmj.com, 16 Feb 2001 [Full text]
Selection of Control Group?
Paul G McDonough
bmj.com, 22 Sep 2001 [Full text]



Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student 

BMJ