Grant: Operating Grant: Analyses of Existing Cohorts & Databases - IHDCYH

HEALTH PROBLEM: Autoimmune diseases - those that occur when the body attacks its own tissues - are more frequent among women than men and often strike during childbearing years. Because treatment with immunosuppressant drugs is needed to control disease activity, medication issues are common concerns regarding patients' childbearing and family decisions. An important issue is that information on the effects of these drugs and related risks of infections in the mother and her baby is scarce. RESEARCH SOLUTION: Taking advantage of the rich health data available in British Columbia, we created a pregnancy registry, which captures information on all births in the province between 2002 and 2012, with data on both mothers and babies. Using information on all drugs dispensed, we will identify women with autoimmune disease who used immunosuppressant drugs during pregnancy and compare them with women with autoimmune disease who did not use immunosuppressant drugs during pregnancy. This comparison will allow us to evaluate whether infections in mothers occur at higher rate among those who used immunosuppressant drugs during their pregnancy. This comparison will also allow us to evaluate whether infections in babies occur at higher rate among those whose mothers used immunosuppressant drugs during their pregnancy. IMPORTANCE: This will be the first study of infection risk with using immunosuppressant drugs during pregnancy, on both mothers and babies. Findings will help guide the care of these patients, thereby improving the lives of Canadian women suffering from autoimmune diseases.