THE PREVALENCE OF CHEMICAL-SUBSTANCE AND ALCOHOL-ABUSE IN AN OBSTETRIC POPULATION IN DUBLIN

Objective: To determine the prevalence of illicit drug abuse and alcoh ol use in an obstetric population based in an urban maternity hospital . Setting: A collaborative study between the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin and the Irish National Drug Advisory & Treatment Centre. Design: A pro spective study consisting of anonymous, unlinked urine testing of 504 'first visit' antenatal patients and a separate group of 515 patients six weeks after delivery. Methods & Outcome Measures: Toxicological sc reening using enzyme-linked immunoassay techniques, with all positive samples being reanalysed. Drug histories were taken and samples were t ested for alcohol and six of the most commonly abused drugs. The pre- and postnatal prevalence of abuse was matched with demographic data. R esults: The prevalence of chemical substance misuse in the antenatal p opulation was 2.8% and 5.6% in the postnatal population. Substances id entified included benzodiazepines, cannabis, amphetamines, opiates and cocaine. Less than 2% of samples tested positive for alcohol. None of the women yielding positive samples had been pre-identified on the ba sis of history. A significant proportion of the women were in the high risk categories with regard to age and socio-economic status Conclusi on: The prevalence of drug misuse antenatally was nearly 3% and postna tally almost 6%. Substance abusers in pregnancy are more Likely to be single, unemployed, and to have had a previous pregnancy.