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A case-control study of maternal alcohol consumption and intrauterine growth retardation
Q Yang1, B B Witkiewicz, R S Olney
1National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, MS F-45, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA
Purpose:
Heavy maternal drinking during pregnancy causes fetal alcohol syndrome, but whether more moderate alcohol consumption is associated with such adverse pregnancy outcomes as intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) remains controversial.
Methods:
Using data from a case-control study, we examined the association between maternal alcohol consumption and risk for IUGR among 701 case and 336 control infants born during 1993-1995 in Monroe County, New York.
Results:
Our results provide no evidence of an independent association between moderate maternal alcohol consumption (<14 drinks per week) and risk for IUGR. The risk for IUGR among heavy drinkers (> or =14 drinks per week) around the time of conception was OR = 1.4 (95% CI 0.7-2.6) for IUGR < or = 5th percentile and OR = 1.4 (95% CI 0.7-2.8) for IUGR 5th-10th percentile. For heavy drinkers during the first trimester, the OR was 1.3 (95% CI 0.4-4.5) for IUGR < or = 5th percentile and OR = 1.3 (95% CI 0.4-4.8) for IUGR 5th-10th percentile.
Conclusions:
Since IUGR is a heterogeneous outcome with a possible multifactorial origin, further studies are needed to examine the combined effects of alcohol and other environmental and genetic factors on IUGR risk for subgroups of IUGR.