title: No association between prenatal exposure to psychotropics and intelligence at age five.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine associations between prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)/anxiolytics and intelligence assessed with a standard clinical intelligence test at age 5 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal follow-up study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Denmark, 2003-2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1780 women and their children sampled from the Danish National Birth Cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-reported information on use of SSRI and anxiolytics was obtained from the Danish National Birth Cohort at the time of consent and from two prenatal interviews. Intelligence was assessed at age 5 years, and parental education, maternal intelligence quotient (IQ), maternal smoking and alcohol consumption in pregnancy, the child's age at testing, sex, and tester were included in the full model. The IQ of 13 medication-exposed children was compared with the IQ of 19 children whose mothers had untreated depression and 1748 control children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence - Revised.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In unadjusted analyses, children of mothers who used antidepressants or anxiolytics during pregnancy had higher verbal IQ; this association, however, was insignificant after adjustment for potentially confounding maternal and child factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No consistent associations between IQ and fetal exposure to antidepressants and anxiolytics were observed, but the study had low statistical power, and there is an obvious need to conduct long-term follow-up studies with comprehensive cognitive assessment and sufficiently large samples of adolescent or adult offspring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Hanne-Lise Falgreen
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Eriksen
authors.forename: Ulrik Schiøler
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Kesmodel
authors.forename: Lars Henning
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Erik Lykke
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Mortensen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000187:drug effects*; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
keywords: Antidepressants; Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence Revised; anxiolytics; intelligence; intelligence quotient; prenatal exposure; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors