OBJECTIVES: Epilepsy is a prevalent neurological disorder which can often cause seizures and has a significant impact on patient’s quality of life. Given that antiepileptic drug use is necessary among pregnant women with epilepsy, it is imperative to further understand the pattern of antiepileptic drug use among pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utilization pattern of antiepileptic drugs among pregnant women in the United States.

METHODS: We used the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey database, which was a nationally representative survey of the United States civilian non-institutionalized population from 2011 through 2015. Pregnant women were identified from the Medical Conditions File and defined as the study population. The use of antiepileptic drug was identified from the Prescribed Medicines File. All analyses were adjusted for design elements including weights, clustering, and stratification provided by National Center for Health Statistics to obtain national estimates (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)). Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to describe the frequency and utilization pattern of antiepileptic drugs among pregnant women.

RESULTS: The number of study population was 8.2 million in 2011 and 7.0 million in 2015. The proportion of antiepileptic drug use among pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women was 15.7% vs. 2.0% in 2011 (p<0.05) and 8.1% vs. 1.8% in 2015 (p<0.05). The antiepileptic drug use trend among pregnant women significantly decreased from 2011 to 2015 (15.7% vs. 8.1%, respectively, p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Compared to non-pregnant women, pregnant women in the United States were found to be more likely to use antiepileptic drugs. We also observed a decreased trend of antiepileptic drug use among pregnant women from 2011 to 2015. Further investigations are needed to evaluate patient characteristics and factors which were associated with this decreased trend of antiepileptic drug use.