Risk of Relapse in Psychotic and Bipolar Disorders After Prenatal Antipsychotic Discontinuation

Is discontinuing antipsychotics before or during pregnancy associated with increased risk of severe psychiatric relapse?In this cohort study of 2000 women with primary psychotic disorders and 1292 women with bipolar disorder in Denmark and Sweden, discontinuation of antipsychotics during pregnancy was associated with a higher relapse risk among women with psychotic disorders. For women with bipolar disorder, sufficient statistical power was lacking to conclude whether discontinuation was associated with relapse risk.The findings of this study suggest a need to investigate the effectiveness of antipsychotics on both severe and nonsevere relapses in the perinatal period.

Corresponding Author: Xiaoqin Liu, PhD, Bartholins Alle 2, The National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark (lxq.ncrr@au.dk).

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