Medication and Procedural Abortion and Risk of Psychotropic Medication Use

Is medication or procedural abortion associated with an increased risk of mild mental health problems as indicated by any first psychotropic medication redemption? In this population-based cohort study of 67 390 Danish females who had a first first-trimester abortion between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2018, compared with the year before a medication abortion or procedural abortion, there were small increased risks of any first psychotropic medication prescription claims (redemptions) in the first year after abortion, no increased risk of psychotropic medication prescription redemptions between 2 to 5 years after abortion, and a decreased risk in more than 5 years after abortion when using the conventional value level of .05. Following Bonferroni adjustment for multiple tests (   < .002), compared with the year before a medication abortion or procedural abortion, the risks in the first year after the abortion no longer met criteria for statistical significance, while the lower risks more than 5 years after abortion continued to meet the criteria for statistical significance. The small increased risks for any first psychotropic medication prescription redemptions in the first year after an abortion observed in this study no longer met the criteria for statistical significance following Bonferroni adjustment; additional research may be needed to replicate and understand these results.

Corresponding Author: Julia R. Steinberg, PhD, Department of Family Science, 1142V School of Public Health, University of Maryland, 4200 Valley Dr, College Park, MD 20742 (jrsteinb@umd.edu).

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