Ruiz-Barreto AL, Alanís-Rodríguez MT, Terrones-Martínez DI, Padrón-Martínez AC, Arízaga-Ballesteros V, Alcorta-García MR, Góngora-Cortés JJ, Rojas-Martínez A, Campo-Casanelles MD, Lara-Díaz VJ. Prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs consumption during teenage pregnancy: an observational, prospective, and cross-sectional study.
Bol Med Hosp Infant Mex 2023;
80:345-354. [PMID:
38150717 DOI:
10.24875/bmhim.23000059]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Teenage pregnancy is a significant public health issue in Mexico; its prevalence oscillates around 20% of all pregnancies. Concurrently, alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use have become more common in this age group.
METHODS
To estimate the prevalence of substance exposure in a population of pregnant teenagers, we conducted a prospective, observational, and cross-sectional study. The protocol was approved by the institutional review board. On informed consent, we asked 420 consecutive pregnant youngsters cared for at the outpatient obstetric service of a tertiary public regional women's and children's hospital in Nuevo León, in northeast Mexico, to answer a previously validated questionnaire to estimate the prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs use during pregnancy.
RESULTS
Of the 420 participants, 317 (75.5%) consumed at least one substance during pregnancy. Alcohol, either alone or in combination, was consumed by 300 (71.7%) participants. Tobacco was used by 117 (27.8%) participants, almost always in combination with other substances, while marijuana and other illicit drugs were consumed by 92 (21.9%) participants. Approximately one-fourth of the participants, 102 (24.1%) reported no substance use during pregnancy.
CONCLUSIONS
In this series, the reported prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs consumption during pregnancy, explored with a validated instrument, is higher than that previously reported in our country. This fact offers a worrying picture of another set of factors adding to the burden of teenage pregnancy.
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