Premium
Alcohol consumption, smoking, and drug use in pregnancy: Prevalence and risk factors in Southern Thailand
Author(s) -
Assanangkornchai Sawitri,
Saingam Darika,
Apakupakul Nualta,
Edwards J Guy
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
asia‐pacific psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.654
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1758-5872
pISSN - 1758-5864
DOI - 10.1111/appy.12247
Subject(s) - environmental health , alcohol consumption , medicine , drug , consumption (sociology) , pregnancy , obstetrics , demography , alcohol , psychiatry , biology , genetics , social science , biochemistry , sociology
Abstract Introduction Substance use during pregnancy contributes to the risk of adverse health outcomes in mothers and children—in utero and during later development. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of substance use and associated factors in pregnant women receiving antenatal care in public hospitals in Thailand. Methods Women (3578) attending 7 antenatal care clinics in Songkhla for the first time during their current pregnancy were interviewed with a structured questionnaire focusing on demographic data, obstetric history, use of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances, and the General Health Questionnaire was administered. The use of substances was confirmed with the ultrarapid version of the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test and urine tests, which were also administered to 1 in 5 to 10 randomly selected women whose screening results were negative. Results Based on self‐reports and General Health Questionnaire results, the weighted prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, or illicit substance use and that of “mental health problems” were 5.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.9‐6.4) and 29.2% (95% CI, 27.5‐30.9), respectively. On the basis of the ultrarapid version of the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test and urine tests, the prevalence of likely substance use disorder during the 3 months prior to assessment was 1.2% (95% CI, 0.8‐1.5) and 7.7% (95% CI, 4.6‐10.7), respectively. Factors associated with substance use were religion, unmarried status, unplanned pregnancy, previous abortion, and current mental health problem. Discussion Our results emphasize the need for identification of substance use and mental health problems, with the help of questionnaires and biological markers, followed by early intervention.