Detecting Patterns of Prescription Drug Use During Pregnancy and Lactation with Visualization Techniques

Background: Pharmacovigilance studies for the pregnancy population are an important tool to address the teratogenic and maternal effects of prescription drugs. Objectives: We sought to leverage existing data to provide empirical evidence that reflects current drug utilization by pregnant/lactating women for pharmacovigilance and effective study designs. Methods: Temporal patterns of prescription drug use during pregnancy and lactation for four clinical conditions were visualized using a R package and an administrative claims dataset representing nationwide privately-insured women. Results: During the years 2010 to 2014, there was a significant increase (p < 0.001) in overall use of opioid, antidepressant, antihypertensive, and antidiabetic prescriptions. Hydrocodone, sertraline, labetalol, and metformin were the most common prescriptions for perinatal use in its respective category. Trimester-specific prescription patterns were reported. Conclusions: Visualization of administrative claims data can quickly detect temporal patterns of prescription drug use during pregnancy and lactation