Skip to main content
PMC home page
Public Health Reports logoLink to Public Health Reports
. 1994 Jul-Aug;109(4):530–538.

Prevalence of illicit drugs detected in the urine of women of childbearing age in Alabama public health clinics.

D A Pegues 1, M M Engelgau 1, C H Woernle 1
PMCID: PMC1403530  PMID: 8041853

Abstract

Each year, it is estimated that from 350,000 to 739,000 U.S. infants are exposed in utero to one or more illicit drugs. To estimate the prevalence of and risk factors for illicit drug use by women of childbearing age in Alabama, during 2 months in 1991 the authors collected patient-reported histories, clinical histories, and urine specimens from 6,195 women statewide attending public health maternity clinics, family planning clinics, and a high-risk referral obstetrical clinic. Blind drug screening of urine specimens for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, barbiturates, and amphetamines was performed with the use of a fluorescent polarization immunoassay. The overall prevalence of positive results for drugs tested was 10.1 percent, including 8.4 percent of the 3,554 pregnant and 12.3 percent of the 2,571 nonpregnant women screened. The drugs most frequently detected were marijuana and cocaine. Characteristics of the subjects associated with a higher prevalence of positive results for any drug tested or for marijuana included white race, older age, being divorced, nonstudent occupation, having 12 or less years of education, attending a clinic located in a suburban county, self-reported substance use, increased risk for human immunodeficiency virus infection, and reproductive history. Characteristics of women with positive screening for cocaine results were similar to those who tested positive for any drug, except that the prevalence of cocaine was higher among black women and those attending urban county clinics and did not vary by years of education. Patient-reported histories of drug use were insensitive in identifying women who had positive drug screening results (sensitivity, 6.3 percent; specificity, 98.2 percent).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Full text

PDF
530

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abel E. L. Prenatal exposure to cannabis: a critical review of effects on growth, development, and behavior. Behav Neural Biol. 1980 Jun;29(2):137–156. doi: 10.1016/s0163-1047(80)90469-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chasnoff I. J. Drug use and women: establishing a standard of care. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1989;562:208–210. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1989.tb21019.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chasnoff I. J., Griffith D. R., MacGregor S., Dirkes K., Burns K. A. Temporal patterns of cocaine use in pregnancy. Perinatal outcome. JAMA. 1989 Mar 24;261(12):1741–1744. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chasnoff I. J., Landress H. J., Barrett M. E. The prevalence of illicit-drug or alcohol use during pregnancy and discrepancies in mandatory reporting in Pinellas County, Florida. N Engl J Med. 1990 Apr 26;322(17):1202–1206. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199004263221706. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fuchs F. Prevention of prematurity. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1976 Dec 1;126(7):809–820. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(76)90670-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. George S. K., Price J., Hauth J. C., Barnette D. M., Preston P. Drug abuse screening of childbearing-age women in Alabama public health clinics. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1991 Oct;165(4 Pt 1):924–927. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(91)90440-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hingson R., Zuckerman B., Amaro H., Frank D. A., Kayne H., Sorenson J. R., Mitchell J., Parker S., Morelock S., Timperi R. Maternal marijuana use and neonatal outcome: uncertainty posed by self-reports. Am J Public Health. 1986 Jun;76(6):667–669. doi: 10.2105/ajph.76.6.667. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Iams J. D., Peaceman A. M., Creasy R. K. Prevention of prematurity. Semin Perinatol. 1988 Oct;12(4):280–291. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Keith L. G., MacGregor S., Friedell S., Rosner M., Chasnoff I. J., Sciarra J. J. Substance abuse in pregnant women: recent experience at the Perinatal Center for Chemical Dependence of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Obstet Gynecol. 1989 May;73(5 Pt 1):715–720. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Little B. B., Snell L. M., Klein V. R., Gilstrap L. C., 3rd Cocaine abuse during pregnancy: maternal and fetal implications. Obstet Gynecol. 1989 Feb;73(2):157–160. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. MacGregor S. N., Keith L. G., Chasnoff I. J., Rosner M. A., Chisum G. M., Shaw P., Minogue J. P. Cocaine use during pregnancy: adverse perinatal outcome. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1987 Sep;157(3):686–690. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9378(87)80029-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Neerhof M. G., MacGregor S. N., Retzky S. S., Sullivan T. P. Cocaine abuse during pregnancy: peripartum prevalence and perinatal outcome. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1989 Sep;161(3):633–638. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(89)90368-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Ney J. A., Dooley S. L., Keith L. G., Chasnoff I. J., Socol M. L. The prevalence of substance abuse in patients with suspected preterm labor. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1990 Jun;162(6):1562–1567. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(90)90921-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Oro A. S., Dixon S. D. Perinatal cocaine and methamphetamine exposure: maternal and neonatal correlates. J Pediatr. 1987 Oct;111(4):571–578. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(87)80125-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Phibbs C. S., Bateman D. A., Schwartz R. M. The neonatal costs of maternal cocaine use. JAMA. 1991 Sep 18;266(11):1521–1526. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Zuckerman B., Amaro H., Cabral H. Validity of self-reporting of marijuana and cocaine use among pregnant adolescents. J Pediatr. 1989 Nov;115(5 Pt 1):812–815. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(89)80668-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Zuckerman B., Frank D. A., Hingson R., Amaro H., Levenson S. M., Kayne H., Parker S., Vinci R., Aboagye K., Fried L. E. Effects of maternal marijuana and cocaine use on fetal growth. N Engl J Med. 1989 Mar 23;320(12):762–768. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198903233201203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Public Health Reports are provided here courtesy of SAGE Publications

RESOURCES