Socio-economic versus obstetric risk factors for drug addiction in offspring

Two possible risk factors for drug addiction were weighed against each other: (1) perinatal factors associated with obstetric medication at time of birth; and (2) factors associated with familial socio-economic conditions at time of birth. The subjects comprised 200 amphetamine addicts and 200 opiate addicts born in Stockholm 1945-1966. In a matched case control study, addicts were compared to their siblings with regard to possible obstetric risk factors by means of conditional logistic regression controlling for socio-economic level and civil status. Administration of opiates, barbiturates and nitrous oxide to mothers during labour was associated with drug addiction in offspring, hence confirming results from earlier studies. In a cohort study the risk associated with birth at a given hospital and familial socio-economic level was analysed by means of log-linear analysis using 7100 controls from the general population. For amphetamine addicts, a low socio-economic level at time of birth might be of importance for the infant subsequently becoming an addict. This could not be demonstrated for the opiate addicts. An uneven distribution of births among the hospitals, most pronounced for the amphetamine addicts, is in agreement with the hypothesis that obstetric practices may be risk factors for adult drug addiction.