Addressing the Epidemic: Screening for Substance Use in Pregnancy [04K

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this project was to implement the use of an evidence-based model and validated screening tool for high-risk substance use in pregnancy. Substance use among pregnant women has quadrupled. Unidentified and untreated substance use can lead to poor maternal/ fetal outcomes and is currently the leading cause of maternal death in the U.S. METHODS: With IRB approval, 65 pregnant women were screened for substance use with a validated screening tool and provided brief intervention and/or referral to treatment as indicated. Data was collected over an 8-week period and analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: Screening revealed that 61.4% of the women reported substance use (alcohol use, tobacco use, non-medical prescription drug use, or illicit drug use) in the past year. Continued substance use after knowledge of pregnancy was reported by 0% for alcohol use, 18.5% for tobacco use, 1.5% for non-medical prescription drug use, and 10.7% for illicit drug use. Screening indicated that 7.7% of the women had moderate to high-risk illicit drug use and all these women received a brief intervention and were referred for treatment. The project results were compared to the average substance use in pregnancy reported by local and recent literature data which included: 5.5-8.5% with alcohol use, 13.2-15.9% with tobacco use, and 6-7.7% with illicit drug/non-medical prescription drug use. CONCLUSION: This project confirms that substance use in pregnancy is an ongoing health issue and supports recommendations from the leaders in obstetrics and addiction medicine for universal substance use screening in all women of reproductive age.