Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy and Children’s Risk of Autism, ADHD, and Intellectual Disability
Open accessAbstract
Importance: Several studies suggest that acetaminophen (paracetamol) use during pregnancy may increase risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children. If true, this would have substantial implications for management of pain and fever during pregnancy. Objective: To examine the associations of acetaminophen use during pregnancy with children’s risk of autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and intellectual disability. Design, Setting, and Participants: This nationwide cohort study with sibling control analysis included a population-based sample of 2 480 797 children born in 1995 to 2019 in Sweden, with follow-up through December 31, 2021. Exposure: Use of acetaminophen during pregnancy prospectively recorded from antenatal and prescription records. Main Outcomes and Measures: Autism, ADHD, and intellectual disability based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes in health registers. Results: In total, 185 909 children (7.49%) were exposed to acetaminophen during pregnancy. Crude absolute risks at 10 years of age for those not exposed vs those exposed to acetaminophen were 1.33% vs 1.53% for autism, 2.46% vs 2.87% for ADHD, and 0.70% vs 0.82% for intellectual disability. In models without sibling control, ever-use vs no use of acetaminophen during pregnancy was associated with marginally increased risk of autism (hazard ratio [HR], 1.05 [95% CI, 1.02-1.08]; risk difference [RD] at 10 years of age, 0.09% [95% CI, −0.01% to 0.20%]), ADHD (HR, 1.07 [95% CI, 1.05-1.10]; RD, 0.21% [95% CI, 0.08%-0.34%]), and intellectual disability (HR, 1.05 [95% CI, 1.00-1.10]; RD, 0.04% [95% CI, −0.04% to 0.12%]). To address unobserved confounding, matched full sibling pairs were also analyzed. Sibling control analyses found no evidence that acetaminophen use during pregnancy was associated with autism (HR, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.93-1.04]; RD, 0.02% [95% CI, −0.14% to 0.18%]), ADHD (HR, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.94-1.02]; RD, −0.02% [95% CI, −0.21% to 0.15%]), or intellectual disability (HR, 1.01 [95% CI, 0.92-1.10]; RD, 0% [95% CI, −0.10% to 0.13%]). Similarly, there was no evidence of a dose-response pattern in sibling control analyses. For example, for autism, compared with no use of acetaminophen, persons with low (<25th percentile), medium (25th-75th percentile), and high (>75th percentile) mean daily acetaminophen use had HRs of 0.85, 0.96, and 0.88, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: Acetaminophen use during pregnancy was not associated with children’s risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability in sibling control analysis. This suggests that associations observed in other models may have been attributable to familial confounding.
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- Authors
- Ahlqvist, V. H., Sjöqvist, H., Dalman, C., Karlsson, H., Stephansson, O., Johansson, S., Magnusson, C., Gardner, R. M., & Lee, B. K.
- Affiliations
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Karolinska University Hospital (SE)
- Region Stockholm (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Lee, Brian K.
- ORCID
- Venue
- JAMA
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2024-04-09
- Volume
- 331
- Issue
- 14
- Pages
- 1205
- ISSN
- 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
- 0098-7484
- PMC
- PMC11004836
- OpenAlex
- W4394633195
- Cited by
- 147
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 74 · 2025: 57 · 2024: 16
- FWCI
- 60.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- JAMA (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS107607, R01NS131433)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P50HD111142)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Pregnancy and Medication Impact
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pharmacological Effects and Toxicity Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects
- Keywords
- paracetamol, prenatal drug exposure, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disability, neurodevelopmental disorders, confounding, maternal medication use
- MeSH terms
- Acetaminophen, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Autistic Disorder, Child, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Sweden, Cohort Studies, Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic, Neurodevelopmental Disorders
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