Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Economics Commons^™

Background: Application of latent variable models in medical research are becoming increasingly popular. A latent trait model is developed to combine rare birth defect outcomes in an index of infant morbidity. Methods: This study employed four statewide, retrospective 10-year data sources (1999 to 2009). The study cohort consisted of all female Florida Medicaid enrollees who delivered a live singleton infant during study period. Drug exposure was defined as any exposure to Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy. Mothers with no AED exposure served as the AED unexposed group for comparison. Four adverse outcomes, birth defect (BD), abnormal condition of new born …