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Taking the pain reliever acetaminophen, also known as the Tylenol brand name, during pregnancy may be associated with behavioral problems in children as young as 3 years old.
This is according to a new report published in the journal PLOS Medicine.
“Acetaminophen is commonly used to treat a variety of ailments during pregnancy, and emerging evidence suggests that acetaminophen may be associated with developmental concerns in children. “There is,” said lead author Christine Sneijder, an assistant professor of public health sciences at the Pennsylvania State University of Medicine.
“Our study found that use of acetaminophen during pregnancy increased the risk of alertness and sleep problems in infants by more than 20%,” she told Fox News Digital.
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What is acetaminophen?
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), acetaminophen is often used as an over-the-counter drug to reduce pain and fever.
It is also a prescription drug.
The FDA says acetaminophen “is found in hundreds of medicines, including those used for colds, flu, allergies, and sleep.”
According to multiple reports, approximately 65% to 70% of pregnant women report using pain relievers during pregnancy.
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“Although acetaminophen has been shown to cross the placental barrier, it may directly affect fetal development, but the mechanism of action of acetaminophen’s effects on the fetus is unknown,” the study said. says.
For this study, researchers surveyed 2,423 mother-infant pairs and women completed a “prenatal stress inventory.”
Pennsylvania researchers conducted a prospective study aimed at examining the impact of maternal delivery methods on delivery by following more than 3,000 women who delivered at multiple hospitals in Pennsylvania between 2009 and 2011. We reviewed the data from the study, the First Baby Study.
For this study, researchers surveyed 2,423 mother-infant pairs in which the women completed a “prenatal stress inventory” and reported substance use during the third trimester of pregnancy.
method of research
Participants were asked what prescription and non-prescription medications (other than vitamins) they occasionally took during pregnancy.
Completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) when my child turned 3 years old. It is, according to the study, “widely used in the study of neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes in young children.”
Women completed a 99-item CBCL questionnaire in which they were asked to rate their children on a three-point scale on a range of behaviors, including restlessness, avoiding eye contact, and reluctance to sleep alone.
Mothers were interviewed at baseline to assess their levels of depression and stress during pregnancy.
research result
The study found that approximately 42% of participants reported using acetaminophen during pregnancy, one-third of women had labor induction, and 29.4% had a caesarean section. .
Women who used acetaminophen were also more likely to consume alcohol during pregnancy, have private insurance, and be non-Hispanic white.
These women were more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety and depression before conception and were more likely to report higher levels of stress during pregnancy.
They were also more likely to have taken other non-prescription medications in addition to acetaminophen compared to women who did not take acetaminophen.
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When data were analyzed without adjusting for confounding variables in this study, “acetaminophen use was associated with higher scores in three domains: [children who are] withdrawn, [have] sleep problems and [have] attention problem. ”
Health care professionals should balance the benefits and risks when recommending acetaminophen during pregnancy, the authors of a new study suggest.
However, after the study accounted for variables that could confound the results, such as stress during pregnancy, the researchers found that the children of women who used acetaminophen during pregnancy were compared to children of women who used acetaminophen. and found that they were significantly more likely to have sleep disturbances and attention problems. Do not take acetaminophen while pregnant.
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The authors noted that after adjusting for participants’ stress, the association between acetaminophen use and adverse behavioral outcomes in children was ‘reduced’. This suggests that stress and acetaminophen use may independently affect behavioral outcomes in children.
Limitations of research
The study noted several limitations, including not determining participants’ dose or frequency of acetaminophen use during pregnancy and not stratifying acetaminophen use by trimester. It has been.
This study evaluated children’s behavior only by mothers’ observations and impressions, not by trained psychologists.
Researchers may also have underestimated how much acetaminophen the participants used. This is because the woman was asked about her medication history for only one period of pregnancy.
In this study, children’s behavior was evaluated only by mothers’ observations and impressions, not by trained psychologists.
The study concluded that it found “an association between acetaminophen use and behavioral problems in children at age 3.”
Health professionals should balance the benefits and risks when recommending acetaminophen during pregnancy, the authors suggested.
Is acetaminophen safe to use during pregnancy?
The FDA is aware of previous studies that have shown an association between acetaminophen and the risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children born to women who took pain relievers during pregnancy.
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The agency reviewed the study but found no reliable conclusions due to potential design limitations and sometimes conflicting results, according to the website.
“Pregnant women should always consult a health care professional before taking any prescription or OTC medication,” the FDA says.
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“Women taking pain medications who are contemplating pregnancy should consult with a health care professional to discuss the risks and benefits of using pain medications.”