HealthDay News — Pregnant patients who discontinue their antidepressant medication during pregnancy are more likely to experience a mental health emergency, according to a study presented at The Pregnancy Meeting, the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, held from February 8 to 13 in Las Vegas.
Kelly B. Zafman, MD, from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a state-based private insurance database to examine contemporary patterns and outcomes of antidepressant discontinuation in pregnancy among patients with mental health disorders. Data were included for 3983 patients with depression/anxiety; 36.7% entered pregnancy with an active prescription for a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor.
The researchers found that 17.8% of the patients had no medication fills in pregnancy, and 64.6% had a greater than 60-day gap. Across trimesters, the rates of discontinuation were similar, with 29.7, 31.6, and 38.6% per trimester. The rates of outpatient and emergency visits for mental health indications prior to pregnancy were similar for patients who continued and discontinued antidepressants. However, those who discontinued medications were more likely to have a mental health emergency during pregnancy, with peaks in the first and ninth months (58 vs 37 per 1000 and 59 vs 29 per 1000, respectively).
“These findings, while not entirely surprising to those who work with pregnant patients who suffer from mental health conditions, are so important to consider for maternal health policy,” Zafman said in a statement. “This work underscores the need to take pregnant patients’ mental health seriously and to offer the full range of treatment options — including medications when clinically appropriate.”
