Maternal term pruritus and long-term neuropsychiatric hospitalizations of the offspring

Purpose Pruritus during pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal, pregnancy, and neonatal outcomes. We opted to assess the association between term pruritus and long-term neuropsychiatric hospitalizations of the offspring. Methods In a population-based retrospective cohort study, the incidence of long-term neuropsychiatric hospitalizations was compared between offspring born to women with or without pruritus at term. Neuropsychiatric morbidity was assessed up to the age of 18 years according to ICD-9 codes associated with hospitalization of the offspring. A Kaplan–Meier survival curve was used to compare cumulative neuropsychiatric hospitalizations incidence and Cox proportional hazards models were used to control for confounders. The study included 226,918 deliveries of which 600 (0.26%) were in women with term pruritus. Results Offspring born to women with pruritus exhibited a higher rate of long-term neuropsychiatric hospitalizations, specifically due to developmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Kaplan–Meier survival curve demonstrated a significantly higher cumulative incidence of long-term neuropsychiatric hospitalizations in offspring of women with pruritus. Using several Cox proportional hazards models, being born to a woman with pruritus was independently associated with an increased risk of long-term neuropsychiatric hospitalizations. Conclusions Maternal term pruritus was found to be independently associated with long-term neuropsychiatric hospitalizations of the offspring.