ArticlePaediatric and perinatal epidemiology2020
Prenatal paracetamol exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preschool-aged children.
Article in Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluation of the evidence on acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders using the Navigation Guide methodology.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Pooled it
- Gestational Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) Toxicity Induces Behavioral and Structural Brain Defects in Rats.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Article
- Prescription use of acetaminophen among pregnant women in Denmark from 2000 to 2023: A drug utilization study.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Article
- Examining the relationship of acetaminophen use during pregnancy with early language development in children.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- The State of Use and Utility of Negative Controls in Pharmacoepidemiologic Studies.American journal of epidemiology · 2024Review
- Multi-omics approach reveals dysregulated genes during hESCs neuronal differentiation exposure to paracetamol.iScience · 2023Article
- Maternal acetaminophen use and cognitive development at 4 years: the Ontario Birth Study.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- Maternal use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and neurobehavioral problems in offspring at 3 years: A prospective cohort study.PloS one · 2022Article
- Paracetamol use during pregnancy - a call for precautionary action.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2021Review
- Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) and the Developing Brain.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Acetaminophen use during pregnancy and offspring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - a longitudinal sibling control study.JCPP advances · 2021Article
- Maternal persistent marijuana use and cigarette smoking are independently associated with shorter gestational age.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2020Article
- Associations between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and child neurodevelopment: Truth, bias, or a bit of both?Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2020Article
- The relationship of prenatal acetaminophen exposure and attention-related behavior in early childhood.Neurotoxicology and teratologyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRecent studies have suggested an association between prenatal paracetamol exposure and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in children. However, these findings may be confounded by unmeasured factors related to maternal use of paracetamol and child outcomes.
objectiveTo examine the association between duration and timing of prenatal paracetamol exposure on parent-reported communication skills, behaviour, and temperament in preschool-aged children, with focus on the role of unmeasured confounding.
methodsWe used data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Linear and generalised linear models with inverse probability weights and robust standard errors were used to quantify the association between prenatal paracetamol exposure and continuous and categorical outcomes.
resultsOf the 32 934 children included in our study, 8374 (25.4%), 4961 (15.1%), and 1791 (5.4%) were prenatally exposed to paracetamol in one, two, and three trimesters, respectively. Children exposed to paracetamol in two trimesters scored lower on shyness compared with unexposed children (β -0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.05, -0.19). Children exposed to paracetamol in three trimesters had a moderate increased risk of internalising behaviour problems (relative risk (RR) 1.36, 95% CI 1.02, 1.80) and borderline externalising behaviour problems (RR 1.22, 95% CI 0.93, 1.60) compared with unexposed children. Children exposed to paracetamol in 2nd/3rd trimester scored lower on shyness (β -0.32, 95% CI -0.66, 0.02) compared with unexposed children. Sensitivity analyses indicated that unmeasured confounders play an important role and may potentially bias the effect estimates away from the null.
conclusionsTiming of exposure and short-term use of paracetamol during pregnancy do not seem to pose any substantial risk of the outcomes examined. Although we found an association between paracetamol use in multiple trimesters and lower shyness and greater internalising behaviour in preschool-aged children, we cannot rule out chance or unmeasured confounding as possible explanations for these findings.
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