Newswise — Saint Louis University is investigating whether an educational website or similar mailed materials can guide women who are heavy drinkers to change their behavior and stop or reduce drinking if they are pregnant or sexually active.
The research is funded by a $1 million three-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The incidence of fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol-related neurodevelopment disorder is 1 to 3 percent of live births," said Mark Mengel, M.D., MPH, chair of the department of community and family medicine at Saint Louis University and lead investigator of the study.
"Children over 12 years of age who have fetal alcohol syndrome develop an array of devastating problems that are layered upon their original organic brain damage. These include mental health problems, disruptive school experiences, trouble with the law, inappropriate sexual behavior and alcohol and drug addiction."
Fetal alcohol syndrome and other problems caused by a mother's consumption of alcohol during pregnancy are entirely preventable, Mengel said.
Researchers will test whether women who are at risk of having an alcohol-exposed pregnancy modify their drinking patterns or behavior after participating in a four-month self-change process.
Women who qualify for the study will complete five Internet-based or mailed exercises designed to teach them about the dangers of consuming alcohol while they are pregnant or if they are sexually active. The program will guide them through a series of activities that encourage them to change their behavior.
Women who are sexually active and are heavy drinkers are included in the study because they might continue to drink if they don't realize they are pregnant.
"While many women stop drinking when they are pregnant, 60 percent of women don't know they are pregnant during the early months of their pregnancy," Mengel said.
"Women may be drinking and not even realize they are pregnant, with potentially disastrous consequences. Drinking any amount of alcohol while you're pregnant may cause your child to have brain damage."
At the end of four months, the women will be screened to see if they continue to be at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy. Their study results will be compared to answers from a group of women who participated in a similar four-month exercise focused on preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
Pregnant women will be considered to reduce their risk of an alcohol-exposed pregnancy if they totally abstain from drinking. Non-pregnant women will be considered not at risk if they reduce their alcohol consumption to less than seven drinks a week, don't drink any more than three drinks on any one occasion, and use effective methods of contraception.
Non-pregnant women who qualify for the research must be between 18 and 44, fertile and use alcohol heavily. Women who are pregnant also qualify if they drink any amount of alcohol.
The study will involves 1,500 women from St. Louis and 1,500 from Kansas City. The Missouri Institute of Mental Health is a research partner.
To learn more about the study, call 1-800-515-8630 or visit http://www.safepregnancy.org.
Established in 1836, Saint Louis University School of Medicine has the distinction of awarding the first M.D. degree west of the Mississippi River. Saint Louis University School of Medicine is a pioneer in geriatric medicine, organ transplantation, chronic disease prevention, cardiovascular disease, neurosciences and vaccine research, among others. The School of Medicine trains physicians and biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health services on a local, national and international level.
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