Alcohol use is highest among older, educated pregnant women.SAN DIEGO -- Alcohol use among pregnant women is highest among those who are aged 35-44 years, college educated, employed, and unmarried. In addition, binge drinking among pregnant women is most likely to occur among those who are employed and unmarried. Those are key findings from a study of the 2001-2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a United States national health survey that looks at behavioral risk factors. It is run by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and conducted by the individual states. (BRFSS) that was presented during a poster session at the annual scientific conference of the Research Society on Alcoholism. "Since 1981, U.S. surgeons general have warned about the dangers of alcohol use during pregnancy, advising women who are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant to abstain from drinking alcohol," lead study investigator Clark H. Denny, Ph.D., of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), pattern of physical, developmental, and psychological abnormalities seen in babies born to mothers who consumed alcohol during pregnancy. Prevention Team at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. , said in an interview. "It is critical for women to understand the serious problems that are associated with drinking while pregnant. Health care professionals must continue to routinely ask all women who are pregnant or that could become pregnant about their alcohol consumption, inform them of the risks of alcohol use while pregnant, and advise them not to drink alcoholic beverages at all during pregncy or if they could become pregnant." The study population included 324,668 women aged 18-44 years in 50 states and the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). . Of these, 14,139 were pregnant (MMWR MMWR Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report Epidemiology A news bulletin published by the CDC, which provides epidemiologic data–eg, statistics on the incidence of AIDS, rabies, rubella, STDs and other communicable diseases, causes of mortality–eg, 2009;58:529-32). Although no statistically significant changes occurred in the prevalence of any alcohol use and binge drinking among pregnant women over 2001-2005, the prevalence of any alcohol use among nonpregnant women declined slightly during that period (from 54.6% to 52.2%), as did the prevalence of binge drinking (from 12.3% to 11.5%). Among pregnant women, any alcohol use was highest among those aged 35-44 years (17.7% vs. 8.6% for those aged 18-24 years); those who were college educated (14.4% vs. 8.5% for those with a high school education or less); those who were employed (13.6% vs. 8.2% for those who were unemployed), and those who were unmarried (13.3% vs. 10.2% for those who were married). Dr. Denny said that fetal alcohol syndrome occurs in about 1 per 1,000 live births in the United States. Other fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are believed to occur approximately three times as often. He had no conflicts to disclose. |
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