Drinking in Pregnancy Still a Problem
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By Cole Petrochko, Associate Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: July 20, 2012
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner
Many women drink while pregnant despite risks of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, a survey of women of childbearing age found.
Of pregnant women surveyed, 7.6% (95% CI 6.9% to 8.4%) had imbibed at least one drink within 30 days of the survey, while 1.4% (95% CI 1.1% to 1.7%) had been binge drinking within 30 days of the survey, according to Claire Marchetta, MPH, of the CDC, and colleagues.
The survey also found that among binge drinkers, pregnant and nonpregnant women drank with similar frequency and intensity, they wrote in the July 20 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The study recorded prevalence of alcohol use within the past 30 days among pregnant and childbearing-age women surveyed through the 2006-2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. A total 345,076 women ages 18 to 44 were surveyed, including 13,880 pregnant women (4% of the total).
Among pregnant women, having any drinks within 30 days of the survey was most prevalent in those ages 35 to 44, at 14.3% (adjusted OR 3.3, 95% CI 2.3 to 4.8), and this group also had the highest rate of binge drinking, at 1.5% (aOR 1.5, 95% CI 0.8 to 3.0). Binge and any drinking in pregnant women was least common among those 18 to 24 (1.3% for binge and 4.5% for any, aOR 1.0 for both).
Although the survey distinguished between binge and any drinking in pregnant women, the authors noted that there is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
The survey also found that 15% of nonpregnant women of childbearing age binge drank. In nonpregnant women, binge drinking was most prevalent among those 18 to 24, at 20.5% (aOR 1.0).
Rates of frequency and intensity for binge drinking were a mean 3.4 times per month at a mean 6.7 drinks per occasion for both pregnant and nonpregnant respondents.
One note of caution in the survey was a change in qualifications for female binge drinking between the present and earlier measures, the authors explained.
CDC measures in 2001 to 2005 defined binge drinking as five or more drinks per session for both men and women. However, guidelines from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism changed the definition for binge drinking in women to four drinks per session in 2004, due to physiologic differences between men and women in the absorption of alcohol. These new standards were adopted for the 2006 to 2010 survey.
"Regardless of the binge drinking definition change ... these results indicate that binge drinking during pregnancy continues to be a concern," they wrote.
They added that their survey was subject to a number of limitations, including self-reported and potentially biased data, use of landline phones versus cell phones for collecting survey data, and exclusion of institutional settings (such as universities) from data collection.
The authors recommended the use of alcohol screening and brief interventions, as well as community-level policy intervention, as methods of curbing alcohol use by pregnant and childbearing-age women. They also noted that the CDC is currently developing a public health effort to inform and aid reproductive-age women in preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies.
Source Article
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Download Complimentary Source PDF
By Cole Petrochko, Associate Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: July 20, 2012
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner
- Many women drink while pregnant despite risks of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, a survey has found.
- Note that the survey also found that among binge drinkers, pregnant and nonpregnant women drank with similar frequency and intensity.
Many women drink while pregnant despite risks of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, a survey of women of childbearing age found.
Of pregnant women surveyed, 7.6% (95% CI 6.9% to 8.4%) had imbibed at least one drink within 30 days of the survey, while 1.4% (95% CI 1.1% to 1.7%) had been binge drinking within 30 days of the survey, according to Claire Marchetta, MPH, of the CDC, and colleagues.
The survey also found that among binge drinkers, pregnant and nonpregnant women drank with similar frequency and intensity, they wrote in the July 20 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The study recorded prevalence of alcohol use within the past 30 days among pregnant and childbearing-age women surveyed through the 2006-2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. A total 345,076 women ages 18 to 44 were surveyed, including 13,880 pregnant women (4% of the total).
Among pregnant women, having any drinks within 30 days of the survey was most prevalent in those ages 35 to 44, at 14.3% (adjusted OR 3.3, 95% CI 2.3 to 4.8), and this group also had the highest rate of binge drinking, at 1.5% (aOR 1.5, 95% CI 0.8 to 3.0). Binge and any drinking in pregnant women was least common among those 18 to 24 (1.3% for binge and 4.5% for any, aOR 1.0 for both).
Although the survey distinguished between binge and any drinking in pregnant women, the authors noted that there is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
The survey also found that 15% of nonpregnant women of childbearing age binge drank. In nonpregnant women, binge drinking was most prevalent among those 18 to 24, at 20.5% (aOR 1.0).
Rates of frequency and intensity for binge drinking were a mean 3.4 times per month at a mean 6.7 drinks per occasion for both pregnant and nonpregnant respondents.
One note of caution in the survey was a change in qualifications for female binge drinking between the present and earlier measures, the authors explained.
CDC measures in 2001 to 2005 defined binge drinking as five or more drinks per session for both men and women. However, guidelines from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism changed the definition for binge drinking in women to four drinks per session in 2004, due to physiologic differences between men and women in the absorption of alcohol. These new standards were adopted for the 2006 to 2010 survey.
"Regardless of the binge drinking definition change ... these results indicate that binge drinking during pregnancy continues to be a concern," they wrote.
They added that their survey was subject to a number of limitations, including self-reported and potentially biased data, use of landline phones versus cell phones for collecting survey data, and exclusion of institutional settings (such as universities) from data collection.
The authors recommended the use of alcohol screening and brief interventions, as well as community-level policy intervention, as methods of curbing alcohol use by pregnant and childbearing-age women. They also noted that the CDC is currently developing a public health effort to inform and aid reproductive-age women in preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies.
Source Article
attached
