Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Retrospective analysis of the diagnostic yield of newborn drug testing
Kelly E Wood1, Lori L Sinclair, Carolyn D Rysgaard
1Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa Children's Hospital, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. kelly-wood@uiowa.edu.
Background:
The objective of this study was to identify high-yield screening risk factors for detecting maternal non-medical drug use during pregnancy.
Methods:
A four year retrospective analysis was conducted at an academic medical center. Detailed chart review of both the newborn and mother's medical record was performed on all cases for which one or more drug(s) or metabolite(s) were identified and confirmed in meconium or urine.
Results:
229 (9.2%) of 2,497 meconium samples out of 7,749 live births confirmed positive for one or more non-medical drugs. History of maternal non-medical drug and/or tobacco use in pregnancy was present in 90.8% of non-medical drug use cases. Addition of social risk factors and inadequate prenatal care increased the yield to 96.9%.
Conclusions:
Use of focused screening criteria based on specific maternal and social risk factors may detect many prenatal non-medical drug exposures.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: Drug Analysis Methods
Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Metabolism
Genetic Screens
Forward genetic screens
Forward or “classical” genetic screens involve creating random mutations in an organism’s DNA using radiation, mutagens, or insertion of additional bases, which...

