Alcohol Prevalence in Pregnancy (APP) Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Prevalence survey of alcohol consumption in pregnancy and the acceptability of screening to clinicians, pregnant women and their partners.
IRAS ID
172140
Contact name
Caroline Potts
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
We will undertake an anonymous surveillance of the alcohol metabolite Carbohydrate Deficient Transferrin (CDT) in routine booking bloods of 600 pregnant women to reliably measure the prevalence of chronic alcohol consumption in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to complications in fetal development and lead to a range of problems in children born to mothers who have drank alcohol in pregnancy. Such problems are termed fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). In order to diagnose FASD, the mother must have been known to have drank alcohol during pregnancy. However, there are few data on the prevalence of drinking during pregnancy in the UK, meaning that data on the prevalence of FASD in children is also lacking. Estimates from other countries suggest at least 1 in 100 children are born with this disability. Unlike many other disabilities of pregnancy, FASD is 100% preventable. This study will provide much needed data on the prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
The study will be undertaken within Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. We will measure CDT levels in a random sample of 600 of the 2693 blood samples taken from all pregnant women who registered a pregnancy within the catchment area of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (North Tyneside and Northumberland) during 2013. CDT is a by-product of alcohol metabolism in the body. We will link the data to an audit of self-report data on alcohol consumption during pregnancy allowing assessment of the extent of the current diagnosis gap. Clinicians, antenatal women and their partners will also be surveyed to ascertaning the acceptability of an alcohol screening tool at antenatal booking. Since diagnosis must be a first step in any intervention strategy this data will be a first step in identifying those in need of help and developing suitable interventions.REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NE/0216
Date of REC Opinion
4 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion