Opioid overdoses for pregnant patients are at an all-time high in the United States, even as overall numbers are improving. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is highly correlated with substance use disorders, yet treatment protocols to help expecting parents manage opioid use disorders and ADHD together are essentially nonexistent. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis may help change that. A study published in Nature Mental Health indicates that patients with opioid use disorders and ADHD who remain on their ADHD medications during their pregnancies are far more likely to adhere to treatment for opioid use, and far less likely to overdose, than are patients who stop taking ADHD medications. This research is a step toward developing urgently needed resources and treatment guidelines, said Kevin Xu, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and the study's first author, who is also the director for substance use disorders rotation for Washington University's psychiatry residency program.
We have really never seen such rates of overdose among reproductive-age and pregnant people." Kevin Xu, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and study's first author According to data from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), rates of overdose deaths doubled among pregnant and postpartum people in recent years (rising from 3.1 deaths per 100,000 in 2018 to 6.
1 deaths per 100,00 in 2021). Opioid overdose accounts for about 10% of all pregnancy.
