Health insurance coverage is associated with lower odds of alcohol use by pregnant women

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/cums-hic072616.php

Public Release: 26-Jul-2016
Health insurance coverage is associated with lower odds of alcohol use by pregnant women
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health studied the relationship between health insurance coverage and tobacco and alcohol use among reproductive age women in the United States, and whether there were differences according to pregnancy status. The findings showed that pregnant women with insurance coverage had lower odds of alcohol use in the past month; however the odds of tobacco use were not affected. For non-pregnant women, insurance coverage resulted in higher odds of alcohol use but lower odds of using tobacco. The study is published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

"Prenatal substance use is a major public health concern, and poses significant threats to maternal and child health," said Dr. Qiana L. Brown, postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Epidemiology, and the study's first author. "The widespread availability of health insurance through the Affordable Care Act may serve as a universal prevention intervention to help reduce prenatal substance use."

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"Prenatal visits may present a good opportunity for screening and brief intervention regarding tobacco and particularly alcohol use," noted co-author Deborah Hasin, PhD, professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. "Particularly for alcohol, evidence indicates that screening and brief advice can be surprisingly effective for medical patients whose drinking is greater than advisable levels but who are not alcohol dependent."

"In addition, there is the need for greater health provider attention to smoking among pregnant women," said Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, and a co-author of the paper. "Our results suggest missed opportunities for tobacco prevention in prenatal visits."