514 THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS ON THE OCCURRENCE OF FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

Abstract

Although alcoholism is widespread among women in the reproductive age group of all socioeconomic levels in U.S., FAS has been reported almost exclusively from poor families. This study compares the incidence of FAS in the children of two distinct income groups of chronic alcoholic mothers. These two groups consisted of mothers and their offspring. Group I; 36 mothers and 109 offspring from Hollingshead' & Redlich's classification of class I-II, and group II; 48 mothers and 133 offspring from class V. Several parameters were studied. There was a highly significant difference in the incidence of FAS among the two groups; 4.5% of children in group I, and 70.9% children in group II had full or partial FAS. The mean birth weight of group I children was -ISD, while group II fell into -2SD. Other parameters studied including neonatal complications, congenital malformation rate, failure to thrive, small head circumference, mental retardation, developmental lag and number of hospitalization were all significantly greater in group II children. 21% of group I children, and 71% of group II children had attention deficit disorder. Children, over the age of 12 showed a high incidence of alcohol abuse (28% in group I, 75% in group II). There was a drop in educational level in both groups, as compared with their mothers. In conclusion, partial and full FAS were more prevalent among the low socioeconomic classes.