In Utero SSRI Exposure and Autism Risk

Researchers from multiple institutions in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine the association between in utero serotonergic antidepressant exposure and child autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Study participants were children born to women covered under the public prescription drug plan in Ontario between 2002 and 2010. Children were considered “exposed” if their mothers received at least 2 consecutive prescriptions during pregnancy for a selective serotonin or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. The “unexposed” cohort included children whose mothers had no prescriptions for a serotonergic antidepressant. By using health administrative data sets, information on multiple medical and sociodemographic characteristics were collected in study children and their mothers. Study …