Abstract
Women of reproductive age commonly use integrative treatments. However, the reproductive safety for most complementary products lacks systematic study. We aimed to study the use of supplements by women in a prospective pregnancy registry. The Massachusetts General Hospital National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics was established to evaluate the reproductive safety of atypical antipsychotics. Exposed and control participants were systematically queried about the use of vitamins and supplements. Slightly greater than half (53.2 %) of the participants eligible for analysis (N = 534) were using at least one vitamin or supplement at the time of enrollment, not including prenatal vitamins or folic acid. The most common supplements used were omega-3 fatty acids (38.0 %), vitamin D (11.0 %), calcium (8.2 %), and iron (4.7 %). Probiotics and melatonin were used by 2.6 and 0.9 %, respectively. In this prospective pregnancy registry, we found that over half of the participants were taking supplements or vitamins other than prenatal vitamins and folic acid. These findings underscore the need for active query on the part of health care providers about the use of supplements during pregnancy, and the need to obtain rigorous reproductive safety and efficacy data for supplements used by pregnant women and reproductive aged women.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Wahiakatste Diome-Deer, Molly Kwiatkowski, Samantha P. Marfurt, Shannon Murphy, and Gina Savella for their contributions to the National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics.
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Marlene Freeman has received other research support from GlaxoSmithKline plc, National Institute of Mental Health, Takeda/Lundbeck, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Department of Defense; has received consulting fees from Takeda, Lundbeck, Otsuka, JDS Therapeutics, Genetech Inc., and Johnson & Johnson; and has received medical editing stipends from DSM Nutritionals and GOED Omega-3 Newsletter.
Adele Viguera has received National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotic research support from AstraZeneca plc, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Otsuka, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Pfizer Inc., and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; has received other research support from National Institute of Mental Health and Epilepsy Foundation; and has received consulting fees from Medco Health Solutions, Inc.
Lee Cohen has received National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotic research support from AstraZeneca plc, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Pfizer Inc., and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; has received other research support from Cephalon, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Aging, Takeda/Lundbeck, Abbott Pharmaceuticals, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Berlex Laboratories, Eli Lilly & Company, Forest Laboratories, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, Organon, Inc., Sanofi-Synthelabo, Inc., Sepracor, Inc., Stanley Medical Research Institute, van Ameringen Foundation, Inc., Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals, and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals; has received consulting fees from Eli Lilly & Company (ended 2010), GlaxoSmithKline plc (ended 2008), Janssen Pharmaceuticals (ended 2004), JDS/Noven Pharmaceuticals (ended 2014), Novartis Pharmaceuticals (ended 2005), Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals (ended 2004), Pamlab, L.L.C (ended 2010), Sepracor, Inc. (ended 2007), and Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals (ended 2007); and has received honoraria from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Berlex Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly & Company, Forest Laboratories, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Inc., and Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals (no speaker bureau activity following 2007).
Ms. Sosinsky and Moustafa declare that they have no competing interests.
Financial support for the National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics
AstraZeneca (Wilmington, DE; 2009–present), Bristol-Myers Squibb/Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (Plainsboro/Princeton, NJ; 2008–present), Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Raritan, NJ; 2009–2014), Pfizer, Inc. (New York, NY; 2009–2011), and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Fort Lee, NJ; 2011–present) had no role in the design and conduct of the study; in the collection, analysis, interpretation of the data; or in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
All participants in the Registry provide verbal informed consent, and all study procedures were approved by the Massachusetts General Hospital Institutional Review Board.
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Freeman, M.P., Sosinsky, A.Z., Moustafa, D. et al. Supplement use by women during pregnancy: data from the Massachusetts General Hospital National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics. Arch Womens Ment Health 19, 437–441 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0586-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0586-0