Researchers have suggested that paracetamol use in pregnancy affect neurodevelopment and cause behavioral dysfunction in tots.
The authors studied 64,322 children and mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996-2002). Parents reported behavioral problems on a questionnaire, and HKD diagnoses and ADHD medication prescriptions were collected from Danish registries.
More than half of the mothers reported using acetaminophen while pregnant.
The use of acetaminophen during pregnancy appeared to be associated with a higher risk of HKD diagnosis, of using ADHD medications or of having ADHD-like behaviors at age 7 years. The risk increased when mothers used acetaminophen in more than one trimester during pregnancy.
The new study has been published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
