A pilot study of the nutritional status of opiate-using pregnant women on methadone maintenance therapy

Laura Elizabeth Tomedi1, Debra L Bogen, Barbara H Hanusa

  • 1Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. let20@pitt.edu

Substance Use & Misuse
|January 6, 2012
PubMed

Pregnant women in methadone maintenance therapy may have poor nutrition during pregnancy. In 2006-2008, methadone-treated pregnant women (n = 22) were recruited at an urban academic medical center and compared with nondrug-using pregnant women (n = 119) at 20-35 weeks' gestation. We measured adiposity using prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), dietary intake using a food frequency questionnaire, and micronutrient and essential fatty acid status using biomarkers. Methadone-treated women had lower BMI, consumed more calories, had lower serum carotenoid concentrations, and higher plasma homocysteine concentrations than controls. The study's limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

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