Routine urine drug screening at the first prenatal visit.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to determine whether routine urine drug screening at the first prenatal visit will identify and permit early intervention for those at risk for poor outcome.


METHODS
Comparisons of maternal and neonatal outcomes between 166 randomly chosen patients with positive and 150 randomly chosen patients with negative drug screens identified by the enzyme multiplied immunoassay test were made by unpaired t test, chi 2 test, probit analysis, and tests of independent Poisson distributions.


RESULTS
Forty percent of those identified denied drug use. Antepartum (p less than 0.01) and postpartum (p less than 0.05) complications were increased among drug users. Birth weight (p less than 0.001), gestational age (p less than 0.03), and head circumference (p less than 0.05) were decreased among neonates.


CONCLUSIONS
Because of difficulty in identifying illicit substance--using patients, consideration should be given to the implementation of routine urine drug screening at the first prenatal visit in populations with a high rate of illicit substance use.
Colmorgen
G H
GH
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical Center of Delaware, Inc., Newark 19718.
Johnson
C
C
Zazzarino
M A
MA
Durinzi
K
K
D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine