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Preterm birth and psychiatric medication prescription in young adulthood: a Swedish national cohort study

Casey Crump1, Marilyn A Winkleby, Kristina Sundquist

  • 1Stanford Family Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94304-5765, USA. kccrump@stanford.edu

International Journal of Epidemiology
|June 24, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Preterm birth is linked to higher psychiatric medication prescriptions in young adulthood. This includes antipsychotics, antidepressants, and sedatives, indicating long-term mental health impacts.

Area of Science:

  • Perinatal epidemiology
  • Psychiatric pharmacotherapy
  • Developmental psychology

Background:

  • Previous research indicates a potential link between preterm birth and adverse mental health outcomes in young adults.
  • Existing studies primarily utilized hospital data, potentially underestimating the prevalence of non-inpatient mental health issues.
  • This study investigates the association between preterm birth and psychiatric medication prescriptions using comprehensive national pharmacy data.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if individuals born preterm are more likely to receive psychiatric medication prescriptions during young adulthood compared to full-term born individuals.
  • To assess the association between gestational age at birth and the likelihood of psychotropic medication use.
  • To evaluate the long-term mental health implications of preterm birth into young adulthood.

Main Methods:

  • A national cohort of Swedish births from 1973-1979 (N=635,933) was followed until young adulthood (ages 25.5-34.0).
  • Included 28,799 individuals born preterm (<37 weeks gestation).
  • Psychotropic medication prescriptions (antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, hypnotics/sedatives, psychostimulants) were tracked in 2005-06 using national pharmacy data.

Main Results:

  • A trend of increased prescriptions for antipsychotics, antidepressants, and hypnotics/sedatives was observed with earlier gestational age at birth.
  • Individuals born extremely preterm (23-27 weeks) were 3.1 times more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics.
  • Extremely preterm individuals showed higher likelihoods for antidepressant (1.8x) and hypnotic/sedative (1.8x) prescriptions compared to full-term births, after adjusting for confounders.

Conclusions:

  • Preterm birth is independently associated with an elevated risk of psychiatric medication use in young adulthood.
  • The findings suggest significant, lasting effects of preterm birth on mental health.
  • Utilizing national pharmacy data provides a broader scope for understanding mental health outcomes beyond inpatient care.
Abstract

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