Longitudinal trends in meconium drug detection in 46 US states between the years 2015 and 2020

Abstract

Maternal drug use during pregnancy has significant health and socio-legal implications. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration publishes self-reported rates of drug use during pregnancy; however, comprehensive long-term laboratory data on neonatal drug exposure are lacking. Over 175,000 meconium specimens originating from 46 US states were analyzed at ARUP Laboratories between the years 2015 and 2020. A retrospective investigation of drug positivity rates, multidrug detection and median drug concentrations was conducted for 28 compounds in six drug classes. The overall meconium drug positivity rate was lowest in 2015 (47.3%), which increased over 6 years, reaching a peak in 2020 (53.4%). 11-Nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) was the most frequently detected compound across all 6 years. The second most frequently detected analyte was morphine in 2015-2016 and amphetamines in 2017-2020. The THC-COOH positivity rate rose from 29.7% in 2015 to 38.2% in 2020. The positivity rates for stimulants also increased in the range of 0.4-2.9% in 2020 compared to 2015. Conversely, opioid positivity rates declined in the range of 1.6-2.3% in 2020 as compared to 2015. The most common two-drug combination was THC-COOH-opioids (2.4%) in 2015-2016, which was replaced by THC-COOH-amphetamines (2.6%) in 2017-2020. The most common three-drug combination was THC-COOH-opioids-amphetamines throughout all 6 years. Neonatal drug exposure positivity rates have increased over the past 6 years based on retrospective data analysis from the patient population submitted for testing at ARUP Laboratories.