Description
- Abstract:
- Introduction: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) encompasses varied emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and congenital abnormalities in individuals whose mothers consumed alcohol during pregnancy. In resource-limited settings, women may be at higher risk of having babies with FASD due to lack of systematic preventive education and consumption of unregulated brews without warning labels. This is a major unaddressed public health concern in Leyte, The Philippines, where tuba, a locally made palm wine, is consumed and earlier studies noted high rates of pre-natal alcohol consumption Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and beliefs of pregnant and postpartum women in regard to prenatal alcohol consumption in Leyte, The Philippines. Methods: In this study, 100 postpartum women, established subjects in a longitudinal birth cohort in Leyte, were administered surveys in the local language of Waray via interview. The survey examined participants’ knowledge, attitudes, practices, and beliefs surrounding healthy pregnancies and prenatal alcohol use. The Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) dried blood test was used to quantify alcohol use in the preceding 30 days and collected during pregnancy and from cord blood. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used to analyze bivariate relationships between knowledge and both reported behaviors and PEth. Results: 75% of subjects answered yes to drinking tuba and/or other alcoholic beverages during pregnancy. Some of the participants that said no to drinking tuba or alcohol during pregnancy had a positive PEth result at enrollment (5/21, 23.81%). Participants who endorsed drinking tuba while pregnant were more likely to have positive PEth results at 32 weeks gestation than participants who denied drinking tuba during their pregnancy (18% versus 0%; p < 0.05). There were significant associations between reported prenatal tuba consumption and the false belief that tuba contains no alcohol (61% vs. 14% prenatal consumption respectively, p=0.011) and significant associations between reported prenatal tuba consumption and the false belief that tuba has health benefits (45% vs. 30% prenatal consumption respectively, p<0.05). Those who indicated that tuba has health benefits gave varied reasons, including that tuba is nutritious and increases lactation. Mothers that said tuba is healthy during pregnancy were more likely to have a positive PETH result at 32 weeks gestation (25.00% vs. 2.27%; p < 0.05). Almost all surveyed (98%) indicated that they would cut back on drinking alcoholic beverages if they were told that this negatively impacted them and their unborn child. Conclusions: Lack of information and knowledge about tuba and the risks of pre-natal alcohol use appear to play a role in informing the decisions of pregnant women in Leyte to drink tuba. Based on our results, educating women of reproductive age in Leyte regarding prenatal tuba use would likely lead to a reduction in tuba use, and as a result less positive PEth results, among this population and FASD risk among their children.
- Notes:
- Scholarly concentration: Global Health
Access Conditions
- Use and Reproduction
- All rights reserved
Citation
Darveau, Spencer, Huang, Alice, Neale, Matthew, et al.,
"Prenatal Alcohol Use, Knowledge, and Outcomes in Leyte, The Philippines"
(2020).
Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/cp9g-p794
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Prenatal Alcohol Use, Knowledge, and Outcomes in Leyte, The Philippines
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Prenatal Alcohol Use, Knowledge, and Outcomes in Leyte, The Philippines
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Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium
The Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium is an annual event at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University that provides Year II medical students a venue to present their summer research in a poster format. Participation in the Symposium …...