Antidepressant use in pregnancy linked to autism in children, but risk is low
However, the researchers stress that the absolute risk of autism was small, so these results should not be considered alarming. Depression is common in women of childbearing age, and in Europe 3-8% of pregnant women are prescribed antidepressants during pregnancy. Several studies have reported associations between antidepressant use during pregnancy and autism in offspring. But it is not clear whether this is due to the underlying illness, antidepressant drugs, or other unmeasured factors. Such factors (known as confounding) can introduce bias and affect the results of a study, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions about cause and effect. In a bid to minimise the effects of confounding -- and better understand the reasons behind this association -- a research team led by Dheeraj Rai at the University of Bristol applied a range of analytical methods to a large Swedish population. They analysed data from 254,610 individuals aged 4-17, including 5,378 with autism, livi...