How Common is FASD?

Data is limited on the prevalence of all types of FASDs due to several factors, including the diverse types of FASDs and under/misdiagnosis. Experts estimate that the full range of FASDs in the United States might represent 2- 5% of the population.

Is there any safe time to drink during pregnancy?

There is no safe time during pregnancy for a mother to drink alcohol, as it can cause developmental problems throughout pregnancy. It is dangerous even before a woman knows she is pregnant. While some FASD outcomes are more likely at different times during the pregnancy, brain development in particular occurs throughout gestation, and growth and central nervous system problems can occur from drinking alcohol anytime during pregnancy. However, it is never too late in the pregnancy to stop drinking; the sooner a mother stops drinking during pregnancy the less likely that symptoms will manifest or be severe. 

Is there any safe amount of alcohol to drink during pregnancy?

No amount of alcohol is currently deemed safe for pregnant women, and for this reason there is no threshold list for alcohol consumption during pregnancy. A dose-response may be considered essential in establishing teratogenicity in animals, but is uncommonly demonstrated in sufficient data among humans. A threshold dose is the dosage below which the incidence of adverse effects is not statistically greater than that of controls. With most agents, a dose threshold for teratogenic effects has not been determined; however, they are usually well below levels required to cause toxicity in adults. 

Since prenatal alcohol use has been proven to affect the developing fetus through a variety of mechanisms to the endocrine, nervous, circulatory, musculoskeletal, and gastrointestinal systems, the determination of the amount and timing of alcohol use that would be considered absolutely safe during a pregnancy is not possible. 

Is there any safe type of alcohol to drink during pregnancy?

All types of alcohol are equally harmful during pregnancy, including all wines and beer. When a pregnant woman consumes alcohol of any kind, so does the developing baby. 

What is binge drinking?

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. This typically happens when women drink over 3 drinks within a 2 hour period. Most people who binge drink are not alcohol dependent.  

Although many women protest that binge drinking a couple of times a year does not indicate they are an at-risk drinker, it is important for them to understand that, at the time they are intoxicated or recovering from drinking, they are as vulnerable to suffering from adverse consequences as habitual at-risk drinkers.

Binge drinking is associated with many health problems, including:

• Unintentional injuries (e.g., car crashes, falls, burns, drowning)
• Intentional injuries (e.g., firearm injuries, sexual assault, domestic violence)
• Alcohol poisoning
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Unintended pregnancy
• Children born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
• High blood pressure, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases
• Poor control of diabetes

Binge drinking is also associated with social and legal problems, including:

• Poor job performance
• Property destruction
• Lack of appropriate parental response
• Interpersonal relational breakdown and violence
• Public disturbance

What is at-risk drinking? 

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines at-risk alcohol use for healthy women as more than three drinks per occasion or more than seven drinks per week, and any amount of drinking for women who are pregnant or attempting to become pregnant.

What is moderate drinking?

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans defines moderate drinking for women as up to one drink per day or a blood alcohol level above 0.055 grams percent. Even moderate drinking has health risks. Women who drink 3 to 7 drinks per week are at greater risk for developing breast cancer than women who have fewer than 3 drinks per week. 

Why is at-risk drinking a problem for non-pregnant women? 

Depending on the level of drinking, the overall health of the woman and her nutritional status, the risk for the following medical problems increases:

• Unintended pregnancy
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Menstrual disorders
• Altered fertility
• Injuries
• Seizures
• Malnutrition and dietary disorders
• Cardiomyopathies
• Cancer of the breast, liver, rectum, mouth, throat and esophagus.

In addition, women who drink at risk are vulnerable to the following psychosocial problems:

• Depression and suicide
• Sexual assault – Interpersonal violence
• Loss of primary relationships
• Loss of income
• Loss of child custody
• Driving under the influence
• Altered judgment

Why is at-risk drinking a problem for pregnant women?

Even light alcohol use may affect a developing fetus throughout all stages of pregnancy. 
Prenatal alcohol consumption exposes the fetus “to a wide variety of phenotypic alterations including prenatal growth retardation, microcephaly and a distinctive pattern of craniofacial Features” This would be known as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. 

However, not all children exposed in utero to the same amount of alcohol will be similarly affected. The expression of alcohol effect on the fetus is dependent on:

• Gestational timing
• Genetic factors involving genes coding for alcohol metabolizing enzymes
• Maternal age
• Maternal nutrition and health status

Many of the fetotoxic effects of ethanol can be attributed to the metabolite, acetaldehyde – a highly reactive substance that may bind to proteins, DNA and other cellular constituents. Ethanol metabolism also increases other metabolites with differing pharmacologic characteristics, tissue distribution and time dependence on clearance.

At present, biomarkers for embryotoxicity have not been determined.

The effect of maternal alcohol consumption to the fetus often manifests itself later in the life of the child through specific deficits in learning ability and with behavioral issues resulting in legal problems. Learning difficulties include:

• Inattentive and easily distracted which may be inconsistent from day to day
• Over activity or “busy”
• Math and/or visual-spatial deficits
• Uneven profile of cognitive skills
• Difficulty completing tasks
• Trouble with transitions
• Poor organization and planning skills

Youth who have been exposed to ethanol in utero have an enhanced risk of the following which lead to legal issues:

• Poor judgement
• Impulsiveness
• Poor social cognition
• Vulnerability to being taken advantage of
• Inability to anticipate consequences
• An inability to alter behavior despite consequences

Where does information on contraception fit in?

A woman who drinks alcohol at risky levels may not always follow prescribed procedures for effective contraception. To prevent these women from having an unwanted and alcohol exposed pregnancy, it is incumbent for the OB/GYN provider to review contraception use with her at every visit to ensure that she has full contraceptive coverage every time she has sexual intercourse. This might include providing secondary, back up, or emergency contraception methods. For example, along with oral contraceptives, advise her to use condoms, which have the added benefit of reducing sexually transmitted infections. Often long acting reversible contraceptives such as the IUD or implant are the best contraceptive alternatives.

I don’t think my talking about drinking is going to make a difference to the patient.

Patients are likely to be more receptive, open and ready to change than you expect. Most patients don’t object to being screened for alcohol use by clinicians and are open to hearing advice afterward. Primary care physicians are in an excellent position to initiate change in their patient’s drinking behavior. Clinical trials demonstrate that brief interventions can promote significant, lasting reductions in drinking levels in at-risk drinkers who are not alcohol dependent. 

Studies have shown that once advised by their physician, brief intervention and education for at-risk alcohol use is equally effective when delivered by a nurse or other mid-level professional specialist. In a report outlining patient intervention for alcohol use within 5 Managed care organizations, 60% of those patients receiving the intervention reduced their alcohol consumption by 1 or more drinks per week. 

If the woman is pregnant, one study indicated that stopping drinking as the result of an educational intervention during the second trimester reduced some deficits in attention disorders observed in the 6 year old children of mothers who reported drinking during pregnancy. It has further been found that the effects of the brief intervention during pregnancy were significantly enhanced when a partner participated.

My patients expect me to spend my time with them discussing their reason for the appointment and not their alcohol use.

A discussion of the patient’s at risk alcohol use can be woven into your assessment of clinical issues and management options. For instance, binge drinking needs to be addressed in determining the most effective contraception method to prevent an alcohol exposed pregnancy; menstrual problems may be more intense due to alcohol use; and, because at risk alcohol use is a risk factor for breast cancer, discussing drinking during a clinical breast exam is appropriate.

Brief intervention for at-risk alcohol use is shown to be effective for individuals who are not aware that they are at-risk alcohol users, when their primary care visit is for a reason other than their alcohol use. 

I have a busy office.  How can fit in screening and intervention for at risk alcohol use? 

Would you spend an extra 5 minutes with 1 or 2 patients a day on an intervention that is effective at decreasing:

• unwanted pregnancies (particularly an alcohol exposed pregnancy),
• situations that increase risk of sexual assault,
• menstrual problems and breast cancer risk?

If you are not able to have the conversation, could it be done by a member of your professional staff?

The AUDIT screening questionnaire can be incorporated into the general patient information and history questionnaire used by an office for patient intake and updates. Individuals tend to respond more openly to alcohol and drug use questions when embedded into an intake form rather than within a face to face interview. Screening need only be done for first time obstetric patients and women presenting for their annual GYN office visit.

For pregnant women

Any alcohol use during pregnancy is considered at-risk use. You and your patient are likely prepared to have this discussion

For non-pregnant women

Considering that approximately 25% of the population of women of women of reproductive age drink at risk levels and the average provider sees less than 6 women per day for routine annual visits, there would likely be fewer than 2 women per day per provider who require any manner of intervention.  

The majority of women who drink at risk levels require you to:

• Acknowledge that their drinking is at-risk level
• Provide a personalized message on why their alcohol use is a problem for their reproductive health
• Ask for feedback and assess readiness to change
• Have her set a goal for next visit and ask if she needs help in meeting her goal
• Give her some written information or a web site resource (see resources section)

This conversation will take less than the time it took to read this bullet list and is proven to be acceptable by the patient and effective in promoting change. Women who respond that they need additional help will need to be referred to a social worker or treatment facility for further assessment.

How do I follow up with her on subsequent visits?

On subsequent visits document her alcohol use and review the goals she discussed with you previously. Ask if she had been able to meet and sustain her drinking goal. If her answer is yes, reinforce and support continued adherence. Encourage her to return and rescreen annually. 

If she is unable to keep her goal, acknowledge that change is difficult, support any positive change and address barriers in reaching the goal. Consider renegotiating the goal and plan including considering a trial of abstinence. It may be easier for her to stop all together than to moderate her drinking. If she is unable to cut down or abstain, consider that she may have an alcohol dependence problem and discuss her getting outside assistance from a treatment specialist, a mutual help group or an on-site social worker.

What do I do when my efforts aren’t helping?

Acknowledge that change is difficult, relate her drinking to problems she may be having, consider referral to an addiction specialist and/or mutual help group. Try to engage a significant person in her life. Address coexisting disorders, both medical and psychiatric. 

I can smell the alcohol on her but she denies drinking – What should I say?

It is best to state your observation as a simple statement. Let the patient know that you are available to talk with her about it and to provide help if she wants it.  Then continue with the appointment. If she is obviously inebriated, do not continue the appointment, but ask her to return when she is feeling better and able to concentrate on your guidance.

What do I do if she refuses treatment?

There may be a number of reasons for not accepting treatment. She may not agree with your assessment of her problem drinking. She may believe that treatment is only for those who are "homeless, incurable drunks." Or she may greatly fear that any involvement with treatment could result in her loss of the custody of her children or her job. She may be concerned that family or neighbors will discover her alcohol problem. If you are able, explore her reasons for treatment refusal, or ask a social worker or counselor to discuss treatment with her. Remind her that whatever her choice, she remains your patient and you want to follow up with her in the near future.