JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with a range of adverse birth-related outcomes, including stillbirth, low birthweight, preterm birth, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs).

Objective:

To assess racial/ethnic disparities in fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) risk associated with alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Methods:

The cohort study (Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) interviewed 595 women who consumed alcohol during pregnancy between 2007 and 2017, at five hospital sites around the United States. Log-binomial regression was used to examine the risk of FAS associated with each 1 g increase in ethanol consumption during pregnancy, stratified by race/ethnicity. [Race: American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), Asian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Black or African American, White; ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino, Not Hispanic or Latino]. The risk of FAS was stratified by daily ethanol intake, calculated from self-reports of type, frequency, and quantity of alcohol consumed during pregnancy.

Results:

White [mean (standard deviation): 18.38 grams (13.68)] and AI/AN: 28.56 (18.48) women consumed more alcohol during pregnancy than the sample average: 15.38 (13.29), while Black: 12.66 (11.61) women consumed less. Non-Hispanic or Latino: 16.39 (15.18) women consumed more than the sample average, while Hispanic or Latino: 15.27 (13.16) women consumed less. Black [prevalence ratio: 1.12, 95% confidence interval: 1.02–1.22] and White (1.12, 1.01–1.23) women were equally likely to give birth to a baby with FAS, given the same exposure to ethanol during pregnancy. Both Hispanic/Latino (1.05, 0.90–1.23) and Non-Hispanic/Latino women (1.15, 1.08–1.24) had an increased risk of FAS for each 1 g increase in exposure to alcohol.

Conclusions:

The risk of delivering a baby with FAS was comparable among White and Black women at similar levels of drinking during pregnancy.