title: Prescription drug use among pregnant women in opioid Maintenance Treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study describes the use of prescribed drugs among women in opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) prior to, and during, pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cohort study was based on data from two nationwide databases: the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and the Norwegian Prescription Database.
  
  
  METHODS
  Norway, 2004-2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  OMT drugs were dispensed to 138 women with 159 pregnancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  All prescription drugs dispensed to women in OMT three months prior to, and during, pregnancy were studied. Amounts of benzodiazepines, z-hypnotics and opioid analgesics dispensed during pregnancy were studied and bivariate analysis was used to study neonatal outcomes of OMT pregnancies with and without such co-medication.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of prescription drug use by pregnant OMT women was high both during the three-month period prior to (69%), and during (81%), pregnancy. The proportion of pregnant women that was dispensed anti-infectives (48%) and/or drugs acting on the nervous system (45%) during any time in pregnancy was especially high. In 21%, 15% and 13% of the pregnancies the women were dispensed benzodiazepine anxiolytics, opioid analgesics or benzodiazepine hypnotics respectively. Only 5% of the OMT women were dispensed antidepressants. Malformations were significantly more common among children born to mothers in OMT that received co-medication with opioids, benzodiazepines or z-hypnotics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A higher proportion of women in opioid maintenance treatment in Norway use prescription drugs prior to, and during, pregnancy than pregnant women in the general population. Co-medication with drugs with abuse potential may increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and this need to be further addressed.
authors.affiliation: SERAF-Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. i.o.lund@medisin.uio.no
authors.forename: Ingunn Olea
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Lund
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skurtveit
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Engeland
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Furu
authors.forename: Edle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ravndal
authors.forename: Marte
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Handal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002047:Buprenorphine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D009270:Naloxone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D009270:Naloxone; D002047:Buprenorphine