Prescription drug use during pregnancy in France: a study from the national health insurance permanent sample

Prevalence of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy worldwide: A systematic review

OBJECTIVES

In this study, we aimed to systematically review the literature of the prevalence of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy and to perform a descriptive analysis focused on methodological characteristics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study was registered in PROSPERO under protocol number CRD42022376634. Medline, Embase, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Web of Science databases were searched (published studies until November 3rd, 2022). Selected studies were population-based cross-sectional or cohort, carried out with pregnant women, and providing information about the prevalence of systemic antibacterial use at least in one trimester of pregnancy. Reviewers conducted in pairs the title and abstract screening, eligibility criteria check, and data extraction of selected studies. Quality appraisal was performed with an adapted version of the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence Studies. Data of included studies were pooled into a graphical and tabular summary.

RESULTS

A total of 16,251,280 pregnant women and 5,169,959 pregnancy registers were identified. The prevalence estimates of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy ranged from 2.0% (95%CI 2.0-2.0) to 64.3% (95%CI not reported) in the 79 included studies. The majority were performed in high-income countries (91.5%). Overall, the studies revealed considerable prevalence heterogeneity in terms of study type and dataset used. The 95% confidence intervals were not reported in 41% of studies.

CONCLUSION

The disparities in the prevalence of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy can be related to methodological issues and different health policies. Lack of uniform databases and changes in data collection methods over time should be taken into account in public health strategy planning. The scarce evidence in low- and middle-income settings hampers the comprehensiveness of the global prevalence of antibacterial use during pregnancy.

Global prevalence of antibiotic consumption during pregnancy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Antibiotic use during pregnancy is widespread with notable variations across regions.

METHODS

This systematic review and meta-analysis (Prospero protocol CRD42023418979) examines the prevalence and variability of antibiotic use in pregnancy globally and regionally, considering different methodologies and maternal characteristics. We searched Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science for observational studies published in English from the year 2000 and onwards. Random-effect meta-analyses were used to pool the prevalence of antibiotic consumption during pregnancy, presented as percentages with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Joanna Briggs Institute Critical appraisal checklist for prevalence studies was used for bias assessment.

FINDINGS

Overall, 116 studies (14 from Africa, 24 from the Americas, six from Eastern Mediterranean, 57 from Europe, four from South-East Asia and 11 from Western Pacific) were included (33,821,194 pregnancies). The majority of studies (84.5%) were appraised with a low risk of bias. The prevalence of antibiotic consumption during pregnancy ranged between 0.04 to 90%, with a pooled estimate of 23.6% (95% CI: 20.1-27.5, I2 =100%). Low-income countries had the highest pooled prevalence (45.3%, 95% CI: 15.4-79.1, I2 =99.6%). Regionally, the Western Pacific had the highest pooled prevalence (34.4%, 95% CI: 13.4-64.1, I2 =100%). The prevalence of antibiotic consumption during pregnancy increased over time in the Americas and Western Pacific. The studies exhibited considerable heterogeneity (I2 >95%), and the trim-and-fill method estimated a potential 10% underestimation of the overall pooled prevalence, suggesting publication bias.

INTERPRETATION

This meta-analysis suggests that about 1/4 of women worldwide use antibiotics during pregnancy. This study suggests a high prevalence of antibiotic consumption during pregnancy with disparities according to region and level of country income, ethnicity and whether antibiotics were prescribed or self-medicated. There was a variability in reported findings across age categories, potential bias from small sample sizes, and language bias from including only studies published in English.

In Utero Exposure to Antibiotics and Risk of Serious Infections in the First Year of Life

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE

Given the high prevalence of antibiotic prescription during pregnancy in France and previous studies suggesting an increased risk of infection in offspring with such exposures, our study aimed to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to systemic antibiotics and serious infections in full-term infants during their first year of life.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study on singleton, full-term liveborn non-immunocompromised infants, using the French National Health Data System (SNDS) between 2012 and 2021. Systemic antibiotic dispensing in ambulatory care settings during pregnancy defined the exposure. Outcomes concerned serious infections (i.e., infections requiring hospitalization) in offspring identified between 3 and 12 months of life, hence excluding infections of maternal origin. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were estimated using logistic regression with multivariate models to control for potential confounders.

RESULTS

Of 2,836,630 infants included, 39.6% were prenatally exposed to systemic antibiotics. Infants prenatally exposed to antibiotics had a higher incidence of serious infections compared with unexposed infants {aOR 1.12 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.11-1.13]}. Similar associations were observed according to the timing of exposure during pregnancy, antibiotic class, and site of infections. The strongest association was observed when infants were prenatally exposed to three or more antibiotic courses during pregnancy [aOR 1.21 (95% CI 1.19-1.24)]. Limitations include residual confounders, such as genetic susceptibility to infections and the role of the underlying pathogen agent.

CONCLUSION

Prenatal exposure to systemic antibiotics is very common and is associated with a weak yet significant associations with subsequent serious infectious events during the first year of life. While our study revealed associations, it is important to note that causation cannot be established, given the acknowledged limitations, including potential confounding by indication.

Trends in harmful drug exposure during pregnancy in France between 2013 and 2019: A nationwide cohort study

OBJECTIVE

Describe the trends of exposure to harmful drugs during pregnancy over recent years in France.

DESIGN

Nationwide cohort study.

SETTING

The French National administrative health Data System (SNDS).

POPULATION

Pregnancies starting between 2013 and 2019 and outcomes corresponding to live births, medical terminations of pregnancy, and stillbirths.

METHODS

Each pregnancy was divided into a preconceptional period of 90 days before conception and three trimesters from conception to birth. Harmful drugs were defined according to their risks to the fetus: teratogenicity or fetotoxicity. Exposure was defined using the critical period during pregnancy for each type of harmful drug: preconceptional period or first trimester for teratogenic drugs and second or third trimesters for fetotoxic drugs.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Prevalence of pregnancies exposed to at least one harmful drug.

RESULTS

Among 5,253,284 pregnancies, 204,402 (389 per 10,000) pregnancies were exposed to at least one harmful drug during the critical periods: 48,326 (92 per 10,000) pregnancies were exposed to teratogenic drugs during the preconceptional period or the first trimester, and 155,514 (299 per 10,000) pregnancies were exposed to fetotoxic drugs during the second or third trimesters. Teratogenic drugs were mainly retinoids for topical use (44 per 10,000 pregnancies), antiepileptics (13 per 10,000 pregnancies) and statins (13 per 10,000 pregnancies). Fetotoxic drugs were mainly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), for systemic (128 per 10,000 pregnancies) and topical use (122 per 10,000 pregnancies). Exposure to teratogenic drugs decreased from the preconceptional period to the first trimester. Exposure to fetotoxic drugs decreased from the second to the third trimester. Between 2013 and 2019, we found a decrease in harmful drug exposure overall, mainly for topical and systemic NSAIDs and for topical retinoids.

CONCLUSIONS

In this nationwide study, about one in 25 pregnancies was exposed to at least one harmful drug, mainly NSAIDs and topical retinoids. Although the prevalence of harmful drug exposure decreased over the study period, NSAID exposure in the second and third trimester remains of concern.

Antibiotic Use during Pregnancy in South Korea Using 2011-2020 National Health Insurance Claims Data

BACKGROUND

Since antimicrobial overuse and misuse can have substantial impacts on both public health and fetal well-being, it is essential to gain comprehensive insights into antimicrobial consumption patterns in pregnant women. This study aims to demonstrate antimicrobial utilization in pregnant women.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based cohort study using National Health Insurance claims data from January 2009 to December 2020 in South Korea. The target population was pregnancies in women aged 15-45 years who gave birth between 2011 and 2019. The outcome measure was the percentage of antibiotic prescriptions by trimester, subgroup, diagnostic category, and therapeutic category. Antibiotics were defined as J01 in the WHO ATC/DDD classification. To analyze the factors that influenced antibiotic prescriptions, we conducted multivariate logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Antibiotics were prescribed at least once in 1,808,588 (50%) of the 3,614,478 pregnancies. The proportion of deliveries with exposure to antibiotic therapy during pregnancy increased from 48% in 2011 to 54.8% in 2020. The prescription rate of antibiotics was highest in mothers younger than 25 years old, and it was lowest in participants aged 30-34 years. Also, antibiotic use was highest in the first trimester (30%) and lowest in the second trimester (18.2%). The most commonly used class was J01D (other beta-lactam antibacterials), which includes cephalosporins, and it accounted for 57% of the prescribed antibiotics. An increased probability of being prescribed antibiotics was associated with those younger than 25 years old, insurance (Medical Aid), hospitalization experience, an increase in physician visits, and comorbidities. For comorbidities, the OR was higher for respiratory tract infection (RTI), sexually transmitted infection, and urinary tract infection compared to those without disease, whereas it was decreased for diabetes and epilepsy.

CONCLUSION

The prescribing rate of antibiotics to pregnant women in South Korea has remained stably high. Also, an increase in the use of broad-spectrum beta-lactam penicillin was noted. It is necessary to monitor antibiotics in pregnant women generally in accordance with recommendations.

[Clinical monitoring of children with in utero exposure to angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers]

Angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers are widely used to reduce high blood pressure or in other conditions such as congestive heart failure and prevention of diabetic nephropathy. To date, no teratogenic effect has been attributed to them, but in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy, their foetotoxicity is broadly documented: transient oligohydramnios or anamnios, associated to possible neonatal anuria and permanent renal damage, which can lead to intrauterine or neonatal death. Long-term effects among children with in utero exposure are poorly known, but the regression of an oligohydramnios might not always be associated with normal renal function after birth or later in life. This justifies seeking the advice of a pediatric nephrologistto consider the most appropriate monitoring for the child at birth and in the following weeks, and possibly beyond, even in case of normal prenatal ultrasound.

Sociodemographic variation in prescriptions dispensed in early pregnancy in Northern Ireland 2010–2016

Aim

To establish the prevalence of prescriptions dispensed in early pregnancy by maternal age and area deprivation, for women who gave birth in Northern Ireland (NI) 2011–2016.

Study design

Population-based linked cohort study.

Methods

The NI Maternity System (NIMATS) database was used to identify all births to resident mothers in NI between 2011 and 2016. Prescriptions dispensed between the last menstrual period (LMP) and the first antenatal care visit (mean 10.7 weeks) (2010–2016) were extracted from the Enhanced Prescribing Database (EPD) which records all prescriptions dispensed by pharmacists in NI. EPD data were linked to NIMATS using the mother’s Health and Care Number. Maternal deprivation based on the NI Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 was linked using the mother’s postcode.

Results

The cohort included 139,687 pregnancies resulting in live or stillbirths to 106,206 women. A medication was dispensed in 63.5% of pregnancies, and in 48.7% of pregnancies excluding supplements (vitamins, iron, and folic acid). Folic acid was the most commonly dispensed medication (33.1%). Excluding supplements, the mean number of medications was 1.1, with 4.2% having ≥5 medications. The most common non-supplement medications were antibiotics (13.1%), antiemetics (8.7%), analgesics (6.9%), hormonal medications (6.9%) and antidepressants (6.1%). Younger women (<20 years) had more antibiotics while older women (40+ years) had more antidepressants, cardiovascular, antihypertensives, anticoagulant medications and thyroxine. The proportion of women living in the most deprived areas with prescriptions for antidepressants, sedatives, tranquilisers, analgesics, and anti-epileptic medications was double the proportion of women with these medications in the least deprived areas.

Conclusion

Half of all pregnant women in NI were dispensed a non-supplement medication between LMP and the first antenatal care visit. Younger and older mothers and those living in the most deprived areas were more likely to have medications dispensed. More antidepressants were dispensed in areas of social deprivation.

High-risk pregnancy: characterization of medication use profile and association with clinical and sociodemographic factors

Abstract Objectives: describe the profile of medication use and adherence, and the association with clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of high-risk pregnant women attended at a university hospital. Methods: cross-sectional study with data collected through a questionnaire applied on 386 pregnant women. Results: most participants were seen only by the gynecologist (75.1%), started prenatal in the first gestational trimester (86.8%), did not plan the pregnancy (61.9%), and performed an average of 8.2 (SD=4.4) prenatal consultations. The most frequent diagnoses were arterial hypertension (20.5%) and diabetes mellitus (19.7%). Prevalence of medication use was 99.7%, with an average of 5.1 (SD=2.1) medication per woman and 12.7% self-medication. Antianemics (88.9%) and analgesics (63.2%) were the most prevalent classes and 17.9% of the women reported the use of medication with significant gestational risk. Only 36.5% were considered adherent, 32.9% declared they were unaware of the indication of the medication in use and 42% did not receive guidance on the use of the medication during pregnancy. There is no evidence of association between the number of the medication used and clinical and sociodemographic aspects. Conclusions: there is a need to develop strategies to improve the care of this population, with emphasis on strengthening multi-professional care.

Dispensing of Potentially Harmful Prescription Drugs in 1.8 Million Pregnant Women in France: A Nationwide Study Based on Two Risk Classification Systems

Introduction

Nationwide prevalence of potentially harmful drug prescribing during pregnancy is unknown in France, and several risk classification systems (RCS) exist to guide prescribers.

Objective

The aim of this study was to estimate the nationwide prevalence of potentially harmful drug prescribing during pregnancy in France and to describe maternal characteristics associated with this prescription.

Methods

This drug utilisation study, conducted on the French health databases (67 million beneficiaries), included all pregnancies beginning in 2016–2017, regardless of pregnancy outcome. Potentially harmful drug prescribing was defined as at least one reimbursement during pregnancy of Swedish RCS category D drugs, Australian RCS category D/X drugs, or contraindicated drugs in France for drugs not listed in these two RCSs. Maternal characteristics associated with potentially harmful drug prescribing were described using a univariate logistic regression analysis.

Results

Among the 1,844,447 pregnant women identified, the prevalence of potentially harmful drug prescribing was higher according to the Australian RCS (3.9%) than according to the Swedish RCS (2.2%), with good agreement between the two RCSs (Kappa = 0.81 [0.74–0.87]). This prevalence increased to 9.2% and 6.9%, respectively, when considering contraindications in France. Prescribing of teratogenic drugs, including retinoids and valproate, was highest during the first trimester, whereas prescribing of foetotoxic drugs decreased after the first trimester but remained high for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (N = 10,021). In women with no chronic diseases, polymedication (five or more drugs) was the strongest maternal characteristic associated with potentially harmful drug prescribing in both RCSs.

Conclusions

Potentially harmful drug prescribing during pregnancy is not uncommon in France. This study supports the comparative analysis of RCS to assess potentially harmful drug prescribing in claims databases.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40264-021-01117-4.

Early exposure of pregnant women to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs delivered outside hospitals and preterm birth risk: nationwide cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the risk of preterm birth associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), focusing on early exposure in the period from conception to 22 weeks of gestation (WG).

DESIGN

National population-based retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

The French National Health Insurance Database that includes hospital discharge data and health claims data.

POPULATION

Singleton pregnancies (2012-2014) with a live birth occurring after 22WG from women between 15 and 45 years old and insured the year before the first day of gestation and during pregnancy were included. We excluded pregnancies for which anti-inflammatory medications were dispensed after 22WG.

METHODS

The association between exposure and risk of preterm birth was evaluated with GEE models, adjusting on a large number of covariables, socio-demographic variables, maternal comorbidities, prescription drugs and pregnancy complications.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Prematurity, defined as a birth that occurred before 37WG.

RESULTS

Among our 1 598 330 singleton pregnancies, early exposure to non-selective NSAIDs was associated with a significantly increased risk of preterm birth, regardless of the severity of prematurity: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.76 (95% CI 1.54-2.00) for extreme prematurity (95% CI 22-27WG), 1.28 (95% CI 1.17-1.40) for moderate prematurity (28-31WG) and 1.08 (95% CI 1.05-1.11) for late prematurity (32-36WG), with non-overlapping confidence intervals. We identified five NSAIDs for which the risk of premature birth was significantly increased: ketoprofen, flurbiprofen, nabumetone, etodolac and indomethacin: for the latter, aOR = 1.92 (95% CI 1.37-2.70) with aOR = 9.33 (95% CI 3.75-23.22) for extreme prematurity.

CONCLUSION

Overall, non-selective NSAID use (delivered outside hospitals) during the first 22WG was found to be associated with an increased risk of prematurity. However, the association differs among NSAIDs.

TWEETABLE ABSTRACT

French study for which early exposure to non-selective NSAIDs was associated with increased risk of prematurity.

Identifying Drugs Inducing Prematurity by Mining Claims Data with High-Dimensional Confounder Score Strategies

BACKGROUND

Pregnant women are largely exposed to medications. However, knowledge is lacking about their effects on pregnancy and the fetus.

OBJECTIVE

This study sought to evaluate the potential of high-dimensional propensity scores and high-dimensional disease risk scores for automated signal detection in pregnant women from medico-administrative databases in the context of drug-induced prematurity.

METHODS

We used healthcare claims and hospitalization discharges of a 1/97th representative sample of the French population. We tested the association between prematurity and drug exposure during the trimester before delivery, for all drugs prescribed to at least five pregnancies. We compared different strategies (1) for building the two scores, including two machine-learning methods and (2) to account for these scores in the final logistic regression models: adjustment, weighting, and matching. We also proposed a new signal detection criterion derived from these scores: the p value relative decrease. Evaluation was performed by assessing the relevance of the signals using a literature review and clinical expertise.

RESULTS

Screening 400 drugs from a cohort of 57,407 pregnancies, we observed that choosing between the two machine-learning methods had little impact on the generated signals. Score adjustment performed better than weighting and matching. Using the p value relative decrease efficiently filtered out spurious signals while maintaining a number of relevant signals similar to score adjustment. Most of the relevant signals belonged to the psychotropic class with benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and antipsychotics.

CONCLUSIONS

Mining complex healthcare databases with statistical methods from the high-dimensional inference field may improve signal detection in pregnant women.

Using administrative healthcare database records to study trends in prescribed medication dispensed during pregnancy in Belgium from 2003 to 2017

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to describe trends in medication prescriptions dispensed during pregnancy in Belgium using administrative healthcare database records from a representative sample of the Belgian population.

METHODS

Pregnant women were identified with reimbursement codes associated with the delivery of a baby. Data were extracted for three study periods, each over 3 years: 2003-2005, 2009-2011, and 2015-2017. The age-standardized prevalence of dispensed medications during pregnancy were computed and logistic regression models were used to evaluate the trends in prevalence across the study periods. The most frequently dispensed medications were listed for each study period.

RESULTS

The study included 23 912 pregnancies. The age-standardized prevalence of pregnant women with at least one dispensed medication increased across the three study periods from 81.8.% to 89.3%. The median number and interquartile range of the different medications dispensed during pregnancy rose from 2 (1-6) to 3 (1-7) between the first and last study periods. In the 2015-2017 period, the most frequently dispensed medications during pregnancy included progesterone (25.5%), paracetamol (17.8%), and amoxicillin (17.1%). The data also showed an increasing trend for the dispensation of ibuprofen and ketorolac during pregnancy across the three study periods.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of prescribed medications dispensed during pregnancy increased in Belgium from 2003 to 2017 with high proportion for Progesterone and Antibiotics. Utilization of certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) increased between 2003 and 2017, despite recommendations to avoid them.

Antibiotic Prescriptions among China Ambulatory Care Visits of Pregnant Women: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Antibiotic use in pregnant women at the national level has rarely been reported in China.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to investigate antibiotic prescriptions during pregnancy in ambulatory care settings in China.

METHODS

Data of 4,574,961 ambulatory care visits of pregnant women from October 2014 to April 2018 were analyzed. Percentages of Antibiotic prescriptions by different subgroups and various diagnosis categories and proportions of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for different subgroups were estimated. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pregnancy categories were used to describe the antibiotic prescription patterns. The 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using the Clopper--Pearson method or Goodman method.

RESULTS

Among the 4,574,961 outpatient visits during pregnancy, 2.0% (92,514 visits; 95% CI, 2.0-2.0%) were prescribed at least one antibiotic. The percentage of antibiotic prescriptions for pregnant women aged >40 years was 4.9% (95% CI, 4.7-5.0%), whereas that for pregnant women aged 26-30 years was 1.5% (95% CI, 1.4-1.5%). In addition, percentages of antibiotic prescriptions varied among different trimesters of pregnancy, which were 5.4% (95% CI, 5.3-5.4%) for the visits in the first trimester of pregnancy and 0.5% (95% CI, 0.4-0.5%) in the third trimester of pregnancy. Furthermore, the percentages of antibiotic prescriptions substantially varied among different diagnosis categories and nearly three-quarters of antibiotic prescriptions had no clear indications and thus might be inappropriate. In total, 130,308 individual antibiotics were prescribed; among these, 60.4% (95% CI, 60.0-60.8%) belonged to FDA category B, 2.7% (95% CI, 2.1-3.5%) were classified as FDA category D and 16.8% (95% CI, 16.2-17.4%) were not assigned any FDA pregnancy category.

CONCLUSIONS

Antibiotic prescriptions in ambulatory care during pregnancy were not highly prevalent in mainland China. However, a substantial proportion of antibiotics might have been prescribed without adequate indications. Antibiotics whose fetal safety has not been sufficiently illustrated were widely used in pregnant women.

Antiemetic Prescription Fills in Pregnancy: A Drug Utilization Study Among 762,437 Pregnancies in Norway

Objective

To determine antiemetic prescription fill patterns during pregnancy in Norway, with special focus on the use of ondansetron and recurrent use in subsequent pregnancies.

Methods

We conducted a population-based registry study based on data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway linked to the Norwegian Prescription Database for 762,437 pregnancies >12 gestational weeks ending in live or non-live births between 2005 and 2017. Prescription fills of medications used for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy were summarized in treatment pathways to determine drug utilization patterns. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate associations between maternal and pregnancy characteristics and antiemetic prescription fills.

Results

The prescription fill rate for antiemetic medication during pregnancy was 7.6%. However, prescription fill rates were 35.5% in the second pregnancy after filling an antiemetic prescription in the first pregnancy and 53.5% for women who filled antiemetic prescriptions in the previous 2 pregnancies. Among pregnancies with antiemetic prescription fills, 62.2% were dispensed metoclopramide, 28.2% meclizine, and 17.2% promethazine. First-line treatment started with monotherapy in 97.4% of these pregnancies, which was the only treatment received in 78.7%. Prescriptions for ondansetron were filled in 0.3% of pregnancies, with 76.9% being initially filled in the first trimester. Ondansetron as first-line prescription medication and/or use in the first trimester was associated with proxies for more severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, including a diagnosis of hyperemesis gravidarum, multiple gestations, a higher obstetric comorbidity index, and concomitant use of medication for gastroesophageal reflux disease and nervous system medications. Women who filled an antiemetic prescription in their first pregnancy were less likely to have subsequent pregnancies than women who did not fill an antiemetic prescription in their first pregnancy (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.90–0.96).

Conclusion

Complex patterns of antiemetic prescription fills in pregnancy may mirror the challenge of optimal management of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy in clinical practice, especially for women with severe symptoms.

Drug prescriptions in French pregnant women between 2015 and 2016: A study in the EGB database

PURPOSE

To describe drug prescriptions in pregnant women in France and to identify teratogenic and fetotoxic drug prescriptions.

METHODS

This study was carried out using data from Échantillon Généraliste des Bénéficiaires (EGB), a French national health database which includes 1/97^th of the French population. Our study population included all pregnant women, aged 10 to 60, who were registered in the EGB and had a pregnancy outcome between 2015 and 2016. Drugs prescribed and dispensed to women during pregnancy and the 3 months before, were collected and described for each year and according to pregnancy trimesters. Prescriptions of major teratogen or fetotoxic drugs were described.

RESULTS

We identified 18,279 pregnancies. Among them, 93% received drug prescriptions and dispensations during pregnancy with an average of 7.4±5.5 different drugs. "Alimentary tract and metabolism (75.4%)", "nervous system (64.0%)" and "blood and blood forming organs (58.7%)" classes were the most frequently prescribed to pregnant women. The 5 most frequently prescribed drugs were paracetamol (60.6%), iron (49.2%), folic acid (45.6%), phloroglucinol (44.0%) and colecalciferol (41.4%). The most commonly prescribed drugs included some that have not yet been well evaluated in pregnancy. Prescriptions and dispensations of teratogenic or fetotoxic drugs, as Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and retinoids were observed. Valproic acid prescriptions to pregnant women have become extremely rare.

CONCLUSION

This descriptive study demonstrates that numerous drugs are prescribed and dispensed to pregnant women in France. These include drugs with a proven teratogenic or fetotoxic effect and many drugs that have not yet been well evaluated in pregnancy.

Knowledge, beliefs, and practice of pregnant women regarding medication use during pregnancy: a hospital-based cross-sectional study

The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, beliefs, and practice (KBP) of pregnant women on medication use during pregnancy, and to identify the factors influencing KBP. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology of a tertiary care hospital over a period of nine months. Pregnant women receiving at least one medication were included in the study. A 19-item questionnaire was developed, validated, and used for assessing the KBP of pregnant women. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors influencing the KBP. A total of 422 pregnant women with a mean (SD) age of 24.6 (4.05) years were included in the study. Pregnant women were having less knowledge on 'unsafe medications' and 'important medications' during pregnancy, wrong belief on 'stopping all medications during pregnancy', and less practice of 'asking Pharmacist how to take medications'. It was identified hat the age, education, occupation, and area of living were the factors influencing the knowledge and practice of pregnant women on medication use. This study identified the need for improvement in knowledge and practice of pregnant women who are young, having nil or low level of education, no occupation, and living in rural areas.IMPACT STATEMENTWhat is already known on this subject? Knowledge and beliefs on medication use play a vital role in medication adherence among pregnant women. Crisis in rural healthcare along with socio-demographic conditions and literacy status of Indian women may have contributed to the lack of understanding about use of medications during pregnancy.What the results of this study add? The knowledge of pregnant women was found to be insufficient on 'unsafe medications' and 'important medications' during pregnancy. Majority of the pregnant women believe that it is better for the foetus if they 'stop taking all medications during pregnancy'. 'Not asking Pharmacist how to take medications' is one important practice in India contributes less knowledge on medication use.What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? There is a need for improvement in knowledge and practice of medication use among pregnant women who are young, having nil or low level of education, no occupation, and living in rural areas.

Patterns of prescription medicine dispensing before and during pregnancy in New Zealand, 2005-2015

Objective

To describe prescription medicine dispensing before and during pregnancy in New Zealand, 2005–2015.

Methods

Members of the New Zealand Pregnancy Cohort were linked with their dispensing records in a national database of prescription products dispensed from community pharmacies. We identified the proportion of pregnancies during which at least one prescription medicine was dispensed, the number of different medicines used and the most commonly dispensed medicine groups both during pregnancy and in the 270 days before conception. Dispensing during pregnancy was assessed by several maternal characteristics.

Results

874,884 pregnancies were included. Over the study timeframe, the proportion of pregnancies exposed to a non-supplement prescription medicine increased from 38.5% to 67.2%. The mean number of different non-supplement medicines dispensed during pregnancy increased from 2.5 to 3.2. Dispensing during pregnancy was weakly associated with body mass index, smoking status and ethnicity. Pregnancy exposure was highest for Antibacterials (26.0%), Analgesics (16.7%) and Antinausea & Vertigo Agents (11.0%).

Conclusions

From 2005–2015, both the proportion of exposed pregnancies and the number of different medicines dispensed to pregnant women in New Zealand increased.

Association of maternal thyroid function with birthweight: a systematic review and individual-participant data meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Adequate transplacental passage of maternal thyroid hormone is important for normal fetal growth and development. Maternal overt hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism are associated with low birthweight, but important knowledge gaps remain regarding the effect of subclinical thyroid function test abnormalities on birthweight-both in general and during the late second and third trimester of pregnancy. The aim of this study was to examine associations of maternal thyroid function with birthweight.

METHODS

In this systematic review and individual-participant data meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar from inception to Oct 15, 2019, for prospective cohort studies with data on maternal thyroid function during pregnancy and birthweight, and we issued open invitations to identify study authors to join the Consortium on Thyroid and Pregnancy. We excluded participants with multiple pregnancies, in-vitro fertilisation, pre-existing thyroid disease or thyroid medication usage, miscarriages, and stillbirths. The main outcomes assessed were small for gestational age (SGA) neonates, large for gestational age neonates, and newborn birthweight. We analysed individual-participant data using mixed-effects regression models adjusting for maternal age, BMI, ethnicity, smoking, parity, gestational age at blood sampling, fetal sex, and gestational age at birth. The study protocol was pre-registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews, CRD42016043496.

FINDINGS

We identified 2526 published reports, from which 36 cohorts met the inclusion criteria. The study authors for 15 of these cohorts agreed to participate, and five more unpublished datasets were added, giving a study population of 48 145 mother-child pairs after exclusions, of whom 1275 (3·1%) had subclinical hypothyroidism (increased thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH] with normal free thyroxine [FT4]) and 929 (2·2%) had isolated hypothyroxinaemia (decreased FT4 with normal TSH). Maternal subclinical hypothyroidism was associated with a higher risk of SGA than was euthyroidism (11·8% vs 10·0%; adjusted risk difference 2·43%, 95% CI 0·43 to 4·81; odds ratio [OR] 1·24, 1·04 to 1·48; p=0·015) and lower mean birthweight (mean difference -38 g, -61 to -15; p=0·0015), with a higher effect estimate for measurement in the third trimester than in the first or second. Isolated hypothyroxinaemia was associated with a lower risk of SGA than was euthyroidism (7·3% vs 10·0%, adjusted risk difference -2·91, -4·49 to -0·88; OR 0·70, 0·55 to 0·91; p=0·0073) and higher mean birthweight (mean difference 45 g, 18 to 73; p=0·0012). Each 1 SD increase in maternal TSH concentration was associated with a 6 g lower birthweight (-10 to -2; p=0·0030), with higher effect estimates in women who were thyroid peroxidase antibody positive than for women who were negative (pinteraction=0·10). Each 1 SD increase in FT4 concentration was associated with a 21 g lower birthweight (-25 to -17; p<0·0001), with a higher effect estimate for measurement in the third trimester than the first or second.

INTERPRETATION

Maternal subclinical hypothyroidism in pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of SGA and lower birthweight, whereas isolated hypothyroxinaemia is associated with lower risk of SGA and higher birthweight. There was an inverse, dose-response association of maternal TSH and FT4 (even within the normal range) with birthweight. These results advance our understanding of the complex relationships between maternal thyroid function and fetal outcomes, and they should prompt careful consideration of potential risks and benefits of levothyroxine therapy during pregnancy.

FUNDING

Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (grant 401.16.020).

Outcomes of drug exposition during pregnancy: Analysis from a teratology information service

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to characterize drug exposures during pregnancy where the outcome was known that had benefited from counselling through our Teratology Information Service (TIS) between 1994-2016.

STUDY DESIGN

This observational study analysed data collected through the drug exposures during pregnancy counselling. Data was analysed descriptively.

RESULTS

Data from a total of 1'374 pregnant women were collected. Mean age was of 32 years. These women were exposed to more than ten drugs in 1.4 % (N = 19) of cases, with a mean drug intake of two. Analysis of the drugs altogether (N = 3'129) showed that FDA Pregnancy Category C drugs represented 42.9 % (N = 1'342) of drugs and ATC code N (nervous system) represented 36.4 % (N = 1'138). The onset of drug exposure was during the first trimester of pregnancy in 95.1 % (N = 2'982) of patients. Regarding outcomes, the rate of induced abortion was 10.8 % (N = 151), of pregnancy complications was 11.2 % (N = 157) and of malformations was 4.5 % (N = 49).

CONCLUSION

Pregnant women counselled by our TIS take a mean of two drugs, ranging from one to 17. Drugs are from FDA Pregnancy Category C and ATC N drugs in most cases, 42.9 % and 36.4 % respectively. The rate of malformation of our cohort was of 4.5 %, close to the estimated spontaneous rate of malformation. This data gives a reassuring aspect of drug exposure in pregnancy but takes into account the outcome at birth only.

Maternal use of drugs and preeclampsia

AIMS

The aim was to compare and describe maternal use of drugs between women with preeclampsia and controls and to estimate the possible association with preeclampsia.

METHODS

The study cohort was collected from the Kuopio University Hospital Birth Register, which includes information about all women who gave birth in Kuopio University Hospital during the years 2002-2016, including information from approximately 36 000 parturients, of whom 1252 had preeclampsia. Maternal use of 16 groups of drugs during pregnancy was analysed from all women with preeclampsia and 1256 controls.

RESULTS

Every second woman had used at least 1 drug during pregnancy but those with preeclampsia had used significantly more than the controls (cases 59.5% vs controls 35.5%; p < 0.001). In both study groups, the most commonly used drugs were antibiotics (cases 19.5%, controls 17.0%), antihypertensives (cases 29.0%, controls 7.6%) and paracetamol (cases 13.1%, controls 5.9%). Women with preeclampsia had used significantly more benzodiazepines, paracetamol, antihypertensives and acid-suppressive drugs than the women in the control group (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Women with preeclampsia were more likely to use medicines during pregnancy. While the association between benzodiazepines, antihypertensives and acid-suppressive drugs and preeclampsia may be explained by reverse causation, the association of paracetamol with preeclampsia remains to be clarified. Because paracetamol is a frequently used drug, more information about its safety during pregnancy including its role in preeclampsia is urgently needed.

An algorithm to identify pregnancies in BIFAP Primary Care database in Spain: Results from a cohort of 155 419 pregnancies

PURPOSE

There has been a notable progress on the development of methods for identification of pregnancies using primary care databases. We aimed to evaluate the prescription of medications during pregnancy applying a novel algorithm.

METHODS

We identified pregnancies in women aged 15 to 49 years registered in the Database for Pharmacoepidemiological Research in Primary Care (BIFAP) between 2002 and 2015. The algorithm applied sequential cycles that searched in hierarchical order for indicators of conception, delivery or pregnancy loss, and other codes suggestive of pregnancy. Length of pregnancy was assessed by searching for last menstrual period (LMP) date, gestational age, and outcomes of pregnancy. Prescription of specific drugs during the pre-pregnancy period and first trimester and time trends during pregnancy were evaluated.

RESULTS

We identified a total of 155 419 pregnancies during the study period (77.5% completed pregnancies, 21.5% pregnancies losses, 0.8% ectopic pregnancies, and 0.2% stillbirths). Excluding vitamins and supplements, 43.8% of women received at least one prescription during the pre-pregnancy period and 68.4% during the first trimester. During the first trimester, the most commonly drugs prescribed were analgesics (16.3%) followed by antibiotics (11.8%). From 2002/2003 to 2014/2015, there was an increase of prescriptions for thyroid hormones (1.0% vs 4.7%), H2 blockers (1.0% vs 2.2%), and PPIs (1.4% vs 2.2%). While antidepressants (2.0% vs 1.5%) and benzodiazepines (3.1% vs 2.4%) decreased in the last period.

CONCLUSION

Having in mind the challenges of identifying pregnancies in health care databases, this study demonstrates the usefulness of BIFAP database for studies on drug utilization during pregnancy.

The French Pregnancy Cohort: Medication use during pregnancy in the French population

Purpose

We described the medication use during pregnancy in the French population using the French Pregnancy Cohort (FPC).

Methods

The FPC was built with the sampling of all pregnant women included in the French Echantillon généraliste des bénéficiaires (EGB), which is a 1/97^th representative sample of the population covered by the French health insurance. The EGB includes anonymized information on the socio-demographic and medical characteristics of beneficiaries, and the health care services they have received such as diagnoses and procedure codes as well as data on filled reimbursed medication; EGB also includes data on hospital stays in all public and private French health facilities. Each filled prescription record contains information on drug brand and generic names, date of prescription and date of dispensing, quantity dispensed, mode of administration, duration of prescription, dosage, and prescribing physician specialty. FPC includes data on all pregnancies of women in the EGB (2010–2013). Date of entry in the FPC is the first day of pregnancy regardless of pregnancy outcome (spontaneous abortions or planned abortions (with or without medical reasons), deliveries), and data on women are collected retrospectively for a period of one year before pregnancy, and prospectively during pregnancy, and up to one year after delivery. The prevalence of prescribed medications before, during and after pregnancy was compared; comparison was also done between trimesters. Pregnancy outcomes are described and include spontaneous and planned abortions, livebirths, and stillbirths.

Results

FPC includes data on 36,065 pregnancies. Among them, 27,253 (75.6%) resulted in a delivery including 201 stillbirths (0.7%). The total number of spontaneous abortions was 6,718 (18.6%), and planned abortions 2,094 (5.8%). The prevalence of filled medication use was 91.1%, 89.9%, and 95.6% before, during and after pregnancy, respectively. Although there was a statistically significant decrease in the proportion of use once the pregnancy was diagnosed (first trimester exposure, 76.4% vs. exposure in the year prior to pregnancy, 91.1% (p < .01)), post-pregnancy medication use was above the pre-pregnancy level (95.6%). Maternal depression was the most prevalent comorbidity during pregnancy (20%), and post-partum depression was higher in those who delivered a stillborn infant (38.8%) as well as in those with a spontaneous (19.5%) or planned abortion (22.4%) compared to those with a liveborn (12.0%).

Conclusion

FPC is an excellent tool for the study of the risk and benefit of drug use during the perinatal period. FPC has the advantage of including a representative sample of French pregnant women, and study medications only available in France in addition to others available worldwide.

Burden of drug use for gastrointestinal symptoms and functional gastrointestinal disorders in France: a national study using reimbursement data for 57 million inhabitants

BACKGROUND

Gastrointestinal therapeutic drugs (GTDs) are extensively prescribed. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of GTD use in a large population: the French general health scheme beneficiaries (87% of the 66 million inhabitants) in 2016.

METHODS

The national health data system was used to identify individual characteristics, diseases and GTD classes reimbursed, together with the costs, using anatomical therapeutic chemical class.

RESULTS

Among the 57.5 million individuals included, 45% received at least one reimbursement among the 130 million prescriptions reimbursed (90% prescribed by a general practitioner): proton-pump inhibitors (PPI; A02BC: 24%), drugs for functional gastrointestinal disorders (A03: 20%), drugs for constipation (A06: 10%), antidiarrheals, intestinal anti-inflammatory/anti-infective agents (A07: 10%), antiemetics and antinauseants (A04: 7%), other drugs for acid-related disorders (A02X: 6%), other drugs for peptic ulcer and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (A02BX: 4.5%), antacids (A02A: 1.5%). The overall cost of reimbursed GTDs was €707 million and the mean cost per user was €28. Marked variations were observed according to age, sex, and disease. The rates of at least one reimbursement among infants were A07: 28%, A03: 17%, A02BX: 9%, A02X: 7%, A02BC: 6% and A06: 5%. Women more frequently received a reimbursement than men for each GTD class. Reimbursement rates also varied according to health status (end-stage renal disease A02BC: 66%, pregnancy A03: 53%, A04: 11%), treatments (people with at least six reimbursements for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in 2016 A02BC: 62%). Chronic GTD use (>10 reimbursements/year) was observed in 19% of people with at least one A02BC reimbursement, A02BX: 11%, A03: 7%, A04: 2%, A06: 17% and A07: 3%.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates extensive and chronic use of GTD in France, raising the question of their relevance according to current guidelines. They must be disseminated to general practitioners, who are the main prescribers of these drugs.

Maternal use of thyroid hormone replacement therapy before, during, and after pregnancy: agreement between self-report and prescription records and group-based trajectory modeling of prescription patterns

Purpose

A reliable definition of exposure and knowledge about long-term medication patterns is important for drug safety studies during pregnancy. Few studies have investigated these measures for thyroid hormone replacement therapy (THRT). The purpose of this study was to 1) calculate the agreement between self-report and dispensed prescriptions of THRT and 2) classify women with similar adherence patterns to THRT into disjoint longitudinal trajectories.

Methods

Our analysis used data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), a prospective population-based cohort study. MoBa was linked to prescription records from the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD). We estimated Cohen’s kappa coefficients (k) and approximate 95% CIs for agreement between self-report and prescription records for the 6-month period prior to pregnancy and for each pregnancy trimester. Using group-based trajectory models (GBTMs), we estimated adherence trajectories among women who self-reported and had a THRT prescription.

Results

There were 56,148 women in MoBa, who had both a record in NorPD and available prescription history up to 1 year prior to pregnancy. Of these, 1,171 (2.1%) self-reported and received a prescription for THRT. Agreement was “perfect” in the 6-month period prior to pregnancy (k=0.86; CI 0.85–0.88), in the first (k=0.83; CI 0.82–0.85) and in the second trimesters (k=0.89; CI 0.87–0.90), while this was moderate (k=0.57; CI 0.54–0.59) in the third trimester. Among the subset of the 1,171 women, we identified four disjoint GBTM adherence groups: Constant-High (50.2%), Constant-Medium (32.9%), Increasing-Medium (11.0%), and Decreasing-Low (5.8%).

Conclusion

Agreement between self-report and prescription records was high for THRT in the early pregnancy period. Based on our GBTM results, about one in two women with hypothyroidism had adequate adherence to prescribed THRT throughout pregnancy. Given the potential consequences, evidence of low adherence in 5.8% of pregnant women with hypothyroidism is of concern.

Management of pregnancy based on healthcare consumption of women who delivered in France in 2015: Contribution of the national health data system (SNDS)

OBJECTIVE

This study was designed to further our knowledge of the management of pregnant women based on the national health data system (SNDS).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Women covered by the national health insurance general scheme or a local mutualist section, who delivered in 2015.

RESULTS

Among the 672,182 women included (mean age: 31 years, SD 5.3), 0.3% were under the age of 18 years, 4% lived in a French overseas department (<18 years: 21%), 17% had complementary universal health insurance coverage (<18 years: 75%), 1.2% presented a mental illness, 0.6% had a cancer, and 0.4% had cardiovascular disease. At least one outpatient visit with a gynaecologist or midwife was detected for 93% of women (first trimester (T1): 75%), specific or nonspecific pelvic ultrasound was performed in 98% (T1: 92%), blood glucose assay was performed in 78% (T1: 61%), and an oral glucose tolerance test was performed in 58%. Before delivery, 0.2% of women had at least one admission to the intensive care unit and 22% had at least one hospital stay (<18 years: 38%), for which the principal diagnoses were: false labour (4.5%), threatened preterm labour (2.5%), surveillance of high-risk pregnancy (2.6%), diabetes (2.6%), and hypertension (0.7%). The preterm delivery rate was 6.7% (<18 years: 14%, ≥40 years: 9%). Although 20% of deliveries were performed by caesarean section, 16% of vaginal deliveries required instrumental extraction.

DISCUSSION

SNDS data enrich the data derived from periodic national perinatal surveys, such as the poor follow-up of adolescent girls. These data can promote the elaboration and monitoring of annual indicators.

Development of an algorithm to identify pregnancy episodes and related outcomes in health care claims databases: An application to antiepileptic drug use in 4.9 million pregnant women in France

Purpose

Access to claims databases provides an opportunity to study medication use and safety during pregnancy. We developed an algorithm to identify pregnancy episodes in the French health care databases and applied it to study antiepileptic drug (AED) use during pregnancy between 2007 and 2014.

Methods

The algorithm searched the French health care databases for discharge diagnoses and medical procedures indicative of completion of a pregnancy. To differentiate claims associated with separate pregnancies, an interval of at least 28 weeks was required between 2 consecutive pregnancies resulting in a birth and 6 weeks for terminations of pregnancy. Pregnancy outcomes were categorized into live births, stillbirths, elective abortions, therapeutic abortions, spontaneous abortions, and ectopic pregnancies. Outcome dates and gestational ages were used to calculate pregnancy start dates.

Results

According to our algorithm, live birth was the most common pregnancy outcome (73.9%), followed by elective abortion (17.2%), spontaneous abortion (4.2%), ectopic pregnancy (1.1%), therapeutic abortion (1.0%), and stillbirth (0.4%). These results were globally consistent with French official data. Among 7 559 701 pregnancies starting between 2007 and 2014, corresponding to 4 900 139 women, 6.7 per 1000 pregnancies were exposed to an AED. The number of pregnancies exposed to older AEDs, comprising the most teratogenic AEDs, decreased throughout the study period (−69.4%), while the use of newer AEDs increased (+73.4%).

Conclusions

We have developed an algorithm that allows identification of a large number of pregnancies and all types of pregnancy outcomes. Pregnancy outcome and start dates were accurately identified, and maternal data could be linked to neonatal data.