title: Medication use among pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus and general population comparators.
abstract: The aim was to characterize SLE medication trends before, during and after pregnancy and to compare other commonly used medications during SLE pregnancies with non-SLE pregnancies.
  
  
  
  Women with pregnancies ending in live birth or stillbirth were identified from the Swedish Medical Birth Register (2006-12). National registers were used to identify women with prevalent SLE during pregnancy and a sample without SLE and to identify prescription medications dispensed from 3 months pre-pregnancy until 6 months postpartum. We reported the prevalence of DMARDs, systemic CSs and NSAIDs (aspirin reported separately) in SLE pregnancies. We calculated prevalence estimates of other medications that were dispensed during pregnancy to ⩾ 5% of SLE pregnancies and for the same medications among non-SLE pregnancies.
  
  
  
  There were 483 pregnancies among women with SLE and 5723 pregnancies among women without SLE. In SLE pregnancies, 49.3% had one or more dispensing for DMARDs during pregnancy; the prevalence was 48.0% for CSs, 40.8% for aspirin and 6.0% for other NSAIDs and varied by pregnancy period. The prevalence of common medications among SLE pregnancies was 1.2- to 20-fold higher than among non-SLE pregnancies; for example, dalteparin (20.9 vs 1.0%), paracetamol (18.2 vs 2.9%) and levothyroxine (15.9 vs 4.9%).
  
  
  
  In nearly half of SLE pregnancies, women were dispensed DMARDs and CSs. Commonly used medications in SLE pregnancies had far higher prevalence estimates compared with non-SLE pregnancies. Research regarding benefits and risks of commonly used medications on SLE pregnancies, breast milk and long-term outcomes for offspring is needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Palmsten
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Research and Policy.|Division of Immunology & Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.|Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Julia F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Simard
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla.|Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Christina D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Chambers
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Elizabeth V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Arkema
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D005938:Glucocorticoids
keywords: disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs; glucocorticoids; medication; pregnancy; systemic lupus erythematosus