Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #121322

James Tsai, MD, MPH and Jorge Rosenthal, PhD, MPH. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities/FAS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-E86, Atlanta, GA 30333, 404-498-3951, jxt9@cdc.gov

Lifetime Drinking Status and Levels of Alcohol Use Among Childbearing-Aged Women, NHIS, United States, 2003

Background: Levels of maternal alcohol use have been associated with various severities of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Data from the 2003 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) have been analyzed to determine the lifetime drinking status, levels of alcohol use, and prevalence rates for consumption of 5 or more drinks in a day during the past year among childbearing-aged women in the United States.

Methods: A total of 8,393 civilian, non-institutionalized women aged 18–44 years participated in the 2003 NHIS. Persons reporting alcohol use of at least 12 drinks in any one year and in their lifetime were asked about consumption in the past year, including how often they drank, the average number of drinks consumed on the drinking days, and the number of days in the past year when they had 5 or more drinks. Mutually exclusive categories for lifetime drinking status and levels of alcohol use were calculated. Prevalence rates for 5 or more drinks in a day during the past year were also assessed for these women.

Results: Among childbearing-aged women, 61.0% were current drinkers, 29.2% were lifetime abstainers, and 9.8% were former drinkers (Figure 1). The levels of alcohol use among these women were measured as nondrinker, infrequent, light, moderate, and heavier for the past year. The percentage distributions for these levels were 39.2%, 16.8%, 32.5%, 7.5%, and 4.1%, respectively (Table 1 and Figure 1). The prevalence of reporting 5 or more drinks in a day was 17.4% for at least once and 1.9% for at least 12 days during the past year (Table 2).

Discussion: Assessing alcohol use for childbearing-aged women will help characterize typical drinking behaviors and identify strategies to prevent alcohol-exposed pregnancies.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Obtain the first time information about alcohol consumption among U.S. childbearing-aged women 18-44 from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).
• Understand the method used to assess alcohol consumption in NHIS. NHIS adapted alcohol assessment module developed by NIAAA.
• Describe the lifetime drinking status, mutually exclusive levels of alcohol use, and prevalence rates for consumption of 5 or more drinks in a day during the past year among women aged 18-44.

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Alcohol Problems

Related Web page: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fas

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.