Omalizumab and Fetal Outcomes in Pregnant Women with Asthma, Taiwan 2010-2022

4,416 pregnant women with asthma were included in a population-based retrospective cohort study using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database and Birth Certification Application from 2010 to 2022. The study, authored by Chun-Tse Hung and last updated in 2026, compared fetal outcomes between 16 omalizumab users and 4,410 inhaled corticosteroid users. It found no statistically significant increased risk of adverse fetal outcomes associated with omalizumab use.

Use Cases

• Assessing the comparative safety of biologic asthma treatments during pregnancy based on the described cohort design.
• Evaluating associations between specific drug exposures and preterm birth or low birth weight based on the reported outcome measures.
• Applying propensity score matching techniques to observational health data based on the described methodology.
• Investigating pharmacoepidemiological trends in Taiwan's national health system based on the data source.

Strengths

• Uses a national, population-based health database covering 12 years (2010-2022) for a defined cohort of 4,416 patients.
• Employs an active-comparator design and propensity score matching to address confounding, as described in the methodology.
• Provides specific odds ratios and confidence intervals for three distinct adverse fetal outcomes (pre-term birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age).

Limitations

• The exposure group is very small (16 omalizumab users), limiting statistical power, as noted by the authors.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for certain analytical tasks.

Provenance

Source

National Health Insurance Research Database and Birth Certification Application, Taiwan.

Collection Method

Population-based retrospective cohort study using an active-comparator design and propensity score matching.

Time Range

2010-2022

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-27 16:15:40; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Taiwan