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Increasing the report of alcohol use among low-income pregnant women
Shannon E Whaley1, Mary J O'Connor
1UCLA/NPI 68-237, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1759, USA.
Purpose:
To increase the report of prenatal alcohol use in a community setting.
Methods:
A self-administered alcohol screening tool was developed and introduced at 12 randomly selected sites that administer the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). A matched sample of 12 WIC sites continued to use the existing verbal standard of care for assessing alcohol use.
Results:
Rates of reported prenatal alcohol consumption at the 12 WIC intervention sites were compared with rates at 12 control WIC sites using a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent-samples t-tests. Within 8 months of study commencement, rates of reported prenatal alcohol consumption were significantly higher at the intervention sites than at the control sites.
Discussion:
Use of a brief, self-administered screening tool in the WIC setting significantly increased reports of prenatal alcohol use, a key first step in the reduction of prenatal alcohol use. The WIC setting represents an excellent place to address the significant public health issue of prenatal alcohol exposure.
