Does Fetal SSRI Exposure Affect Speech Development in Childhood?

This large study found a significantly increased risk for speech/language disorders at age 4 years with presumably greater fetal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Patients sometimes express concerns that exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy may increase the risk for speech/language, scholastic, and motor disturbances in the developing child. To assess these possible risks, researchers conducted a prospective cohort study using Finnish medical and prescription databases on 56,340 infants and their mothers between 1996 and 2010.

The three study groups were 15,596 children whose mothers filled at least one SSRI prescription for a psychiatric disorder at around the time of pregnancy, 9537 whose mothers had a psychiatric disorder associated with SSRI use but did not fill an SSRI prescription, and 31,207 children without a psychiatric disorder or an SSRI prescription.…

Reviewing Author

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Does Fetal SSRI Exposure Affect Speech Development in Childhood?

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Reviewing Author