Alcohol consumption and pregnancy in the Mexican national addiction survey

• Main Authors: Guilherme Borges, Roberto Tapia-Conyer, Malaquías López-Cervantes, María Elena Medina-Mora, Blanca Pelcastre, Francisco Franco Marina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
• Series: Cadernos de Saúde Pública
• Subjects: Pregnancy; Alcohol Consumption; Spontaneous Abortion; Congenital Abnormalities
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X1997000200009&lng=en&tlng=en

In 1988, the General Directorate of Epidemiology and the Mexican Institute of Psychiatry conducted the first National Addiction Survey (ENA), providing regional and national data on alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. The ENA providing a subsample of women who have been pregnant at some time in their lives. There were 5,234 affirmative responses. Women were asked if they had suffered any of three adverse outcomes during their last pregnancy: spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, and congenital abnormalities. Prevalence of spontaneous abortion was 3.8%, stillbirth 1.2%, and congenital abnormalities 1.1 %. Multiple logistic-regression models were used to analyze the effect of alcohol consumption on these problems. Consumption during pregnancy was related only with the prevalence of congenital abnormalities, with prevalence odds of 3.4. Among habitual users during the last 12 months, oniy women in the highest use category showed an important relationship with the three problems mentioned. Follow-up studies on the Mexican population are recommended in order to obtain more conclusive findings.