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Br J Ophthalmol 2009;93:1283-1286 doi:10.1136/bjo.2008.157123
  • Global issues

Antiglaucoma medications during pregnancy and the risk of low birth weight: a population-based study

  1. J-D Ho1,2,
  2. C-C Hu3,4,
  3. H-C Lin5
  1. 1
    Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  2. 2
    Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
  3. 3
    Department of Ophthalmology, Shin Kong Wu-HoSu Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  4. 4
    School of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan
  5. 5
    School of Health Care Administration, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
  1. Correspondence to Professor H-C Lin, School of Health Care Administration, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan; henry11111{at}tmu.edu.tw
  • Accepted 2 May 2009
  • Published Online First 10 June 2009

Abstract

Objective: To study the relationship between using antiglaucoma medications during pregnancy and the risk of having low-birth-weight (LBW) infants.

Methods: The study group comprised 244 pregnant women who had been prescribed topical medication to control glaucoma during pregnancy. The comparison group comprised 1952 pregnant women matched for age, year of delivery, maternal hypertension and gestational diabetes. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to calculate the adjusted odds ratio of having LBW infants.

Results: The majority of pregnant women (77.5%) were prescribed beta-blockers to control glaucoma. After adjusting for characteristics of the infant (gender, parity and gestational age), mother (age, the highest educational level, marital status, hypertension and gestational diabetes), father (the highest educational level), parental age difference and family monthly income, there was no significant difference in the risk of LBW infants between mothers prescribed beta-blockers and mothers in the comparison cohort (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.48, 95% CI 0.86 to 2.56). However, there was a significantly higher risk of LBW infants for mothers prescribed topical antiglaucoma medications other than beta-blockers (adjusted OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.05 to 5.00).

Conclusions: Topical beta-blockers can be the first-line drugs when considering medical treatment of glaucoma in a pregnant woman.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests None.

  • Provenance and Peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Relevant Article

  • At a glance:At a glance Br J Ophthalmol 2009;93:idoi:10.1136/bjo.2009.171173

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