Pregnancy-related alcohol use among women in the United States, 1988-95

Objectives To determine secular trends in pregnancy-related reduction in fr equent alcohol use (i.e. greater than or equal to 5 drinks/occasion or grea ter than or equal to 7 drinks/ week) among US women, 1988-95. Methods Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we obtained the prevalence rate ratio (PRR) for alcohol use by pregnant women compared with that by non-pregnant women, with an emphasis on frequent use, and the median number of drinks consumed per week. Results The overall PRR for any alcohol use did not vary significantly (p > 0.05) over the study period, decreasing from 0.34 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.29-0.40) during 1988-89, to 0.24 (95% CI 0.21-0.28) in 1990-93, and then increasing to 0.30 (95% CI 0.25-0.37) in 1995. The pregnancy-related reduction for any alcohol use was smallest among women who were aged 31-44 years, non-white or unmarried. The PRR for frequent drinking varied signifi cantly over time, decreasing from 0.20 (95% CI 0.12-0.33) during 1988-89 to 0.08 (95% CI 0.05-0.12) in 1990-91 and then increasing to 0.26 (95% CI 0.1 6-0.40) in 1995 (p < 0.05). For frequent drinking, the pregnancy-related re duction was smallest among non-white women and among unmarried women. The m edian number of drinks consumed per week remained steady over time for both pregnant (any, 1.0; frequent, 5.0) and non-pregnant women (any 1.5; freque nt, 6.0). Conclusion Among reproductive-age women who are frequent alcohol users, the likelihood of continuing frequent alcohol use into pregnancy has increased in recent years, but the amount consumed has remained stable. Public healt h efforts aimed at increasing the availability of interventions for alcohol -using women of reproductive age are needed to prevent alcohol-exposed preg nancies.