Do Canadian prenatal record forms integrate evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis of a FASD?

Prenatal alcohol exposure is a significant public health issue with lifelong psychological, emotional and financial costs associated with caring for an affected individual. In 2005, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch developed evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis of a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). We examined the extent to which prenatal records across Canadian provinces and territories currently integrate key recommendations from these guidelines.

A content analysis of prenatal record forms retrieved from each Canadian province and territory (N = 12) was conducted to identify all questions or intervention prompts related to prenatal screening, exposure assessment, counseling or referral for maternal alcohol use during pregnancy. Findings were reviewed in relation to recommendations extrapolated from the Canadian guidelines and the FASD literature.

All the prenatal record forms contained questions to assess maternal alcohol use during pregnancy. However, the dimensions of alcohol consumption assessed and the format, wording and number of items related to each dimension varied markedly across provinces/territories. Only five prenatal record forms included a validated screening tool to identify risky alcohol drinking behaviour. Most of the forms lacked prompts to encourage providers to intervene or refer pregnant clients with high-risk drinking behaviour.

Integration of the Canadian recommendations into Canadian prenatal record forms may be an effective public health strategy for helping identify pregnancies at high risk for alcohol exposure, reducing the incidence of a FASD through appropriate prenatal intervention and referral, and facilitating early diagnosis of a FASD.