Prevalence and factors associated with alcohol consumption during pregnancy

a cross-sectional and exploratory study carried out on a sample of post-partum women, recruited daily over six months. Sociodemographic and reproductive information about the women and data concerning the newborns were collected. T-ACE questionnaire was used to identify the pattern of alcohol consumption by the women. They were divided into two groups: alcohol consumers (T-ACE score ≥2) and non-alcohol consumers. Comparisons between the two groups were made using the unpaired t test, chi-square test or Fisher's exact test according to the type of variable analyzed. The significance level was set at 5%.

Results:

out of 925 women, 818 (88.4%) agreed to participate. Among them, 60 (7.3%) were T-ACE positive, i.e. identified as alcohol consumers. Regarding the sociodemographic information, alcohol consumption was more frequent among women who did not have a steady partner (p=0.010). No reproductive variable presented a significant difference between the groups. A lower weight was observed among children of T-ACE positive mothers (3,045g±71.0 vs 3,192g±19.2; p=0.040).

Conclusions:

identifying and characterizing women who are more susceptible to alcohol consumption during pregnancy can contribute to developing more effective public health intervention strategies.

Key words
Pregnancy; Alcohol drinking; Prevalence; Epidemiologic factors

Variables	negative T-ACE		positive T-ACE		p
	(n=758)		(n=60)
	n	%	n	%
Age					0.101^* * Fisher's exact test;
≤ 15	16	2.1	1	1.7
16-20	153	20.2	13	21.7
21-25	203	26.8	24	40.0
26-30	161	21.2	5	8.3
31-35	142	18.7	9	15.0
36-40	70	9.2	8	13.3
> 40	13	1.7	-	-
Skin color					0.621^* * Fisher's exact test;
White	324	42.7	21	35.0
Black	80	10.6	9	15.0
Mix	338	44.6	29	48.3
Yellow	9	1.2	1	1.7
Indigenous	7	0.9	-	-
Religion					0.423^* * Fisher's exact test;
Catholic	315	41.6	24	40.0
Evangelical	334	44.1	23	38.3
Spiritist	10	1.3	2	3.3
African matrix	4	0.5	-	-
Atheist/agnostic	88	11.6	11	18.3
Others	7	0.9	-	-
Marital status					0.010^ Chi-square test.
No steady partner	164	21.6	22	36.7
Have a steady partner	594	78.4	38	63.3
Schooling					0.631^* * Fisher's exact test;
Elementary school	203	26.8	14	23.3
High school	500	66.0	43	71.7
Higher education	55	7.3	3	5.0
Work					0.685^ Chi-square test.
Do not work outside home	428	56.5	36	60.0
Work outside home	330	43.5	24	40.0
Household income					0.596^ Chi-square test.
Did not report	249	32.9	18	30.0
Up to ½ minimum wage	282	37.2	19	31.7
From ½ to 1 minimum wage	130	17.2	13	21.7
More than 1 minimum wage	97	12.8	10	16.7

Variables	negative T-ACE		positive T-ACE		p
	(n=758)		(n=60)
	n	%	n	%
Number of pregnancies					0.892^* * Fisher's exact test;
1	268	35.4	23	38.3
2 -4	440	58.1	33	55.0
5 or more	50	6.6	4	6.7
Number of live children					0.289^* * Fisher's exact test;
1	301	39.7	27	45.0
2 -4	431	56.9	33	55.0
5 or more	26	3.4	-	-
Number of abortions					0.294^* * Fisher's exact test;
nil	610	80.5	45	75.0
1 -2	139	18.3	13	21.7
3 or more	9	1.2	2	3.3
Number of prenatal visits					0.613^* * Fisher's exact test;
Less than 6	60	7.9	3	5.0
6 or more	698	92.1	57	95.0
Type of birth in the last pregnancy					0.402^ Chi-square test; STD= sexually transmitted diseases.
Cesarean section	488	64.4	35	58.3
Normal	270	35.6	25	41.7
Pre-pregnancy pathologies					0.778^* * Fisher's exact test;
None	650	85.8	51	85.0
Several	102	13.8	8	13.3
STD	6	0.8	1	1.7
Pathologies that occurred in gestation					0.612^* * Fisher's exact test;
None	444	58.6	33	55.0
Several	309	40.8	26	43.3
STD	5	0.7	1	1.7

Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira Rua dos Coelhos, 300. Boa Vista, 50070-550 Recife PE Brasil, Tel./Fax: +55 81 2122-4141 - Recife - PR - Brazil
E-mail: revista@imip.org.br

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[TFN1] ^*
Fisher's exact test;

[TFN2] ^**
Chi-square test.